A RARE KESI 'PRUNUS' MANDARIN JACKET, MAGUA

Details

A RARE KESI 'PRUNUS' MANDARIN JACKET, MAGUA
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)

The jacket with fine gold and silver threads decorated with the dominant motif of prunus sprays in blossom, framed by black borders also woven with prunus and wan pattern keyfret bands at the collar, cuffs, and hem, defining the outline of the jacket to form the ruyi design on the waist, all reserved against a cornflower-blue gauze ground, with extended pale blue sleeve bands, similarly decorated with prunus
53 1/2 in. (136 cm.) across

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Lot Essay

It is highly probable that this jacket was made for the Dowager Empress Cixi (1835-1908) as suggested by both the style and ample girth.

Compare two very similar jackets in the Beijing Palace Museum: one with gold embroidered butterflies, illustrated in Dragon Emperor: Treasure from the Forbidden City, Melbourne, 1989, p. 110, fig. 64; and the other one with embroidered hydrangeas design, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue The Splendors of Imperial Costume, Beijing, 2008, fig. 90, p.130

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