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Lot Essay
A similar panel, described as yardage for a formal court robe of the Kangxi period, is illustrated in Heavenly Splendour: The Edrina Collection of Ming and Qing Imperial Costumes, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 6, pp. 80-1, where it is noted the design is a continuation of the Ming style of decoration on formal court robes. Such designs can be seen amongst more than 600 textiles excavated from the Dingling Mausoleum, the tomb of the Wanli Emperor and Empress. Of particular note, is the fragment with similarly depicted dragons and other motifs illustrated in Catalogue of Relics from the Dingling Mausoleum I, Beijing, 2006, p. 402, nos. 531 and 532. See, also, the yellow-ground panel, very similar to the present example, illustrated by Huang Nengfu and Chen Juanjuan in Chinese Imperial Robes, Beijing, 2006, p. 70, no. 88, where it is dated late Ming.
A non-Imperial blue brocade robe, dated 17th century, with yoke woven with similar large dragons placed at the chest and back, was included in the exhibition, Heavens' Embroidered Cloths: One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 58, page 208.
A non-Imperial blue brocade robe, dated 17th century, with yoke woven with similar large dragons placed at the chest and back, was included in the exhibition, Heavens' Embroidered Cloths: One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 58, page 208.