A VERY RARE GOLD BROCADE RANK BADGE OF A QILIN, BUZI
THE PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN GENTLEMAN
A VERY RARE GOLD BROCADE RANK BADGE OF A QILIN, BUZI

MING DYNASTY, 15TH/16TH CENTURY

Details
A VERY RARE GOLD BROCADE RANK BADGE OF A QILIN, BUZI
MING DYNASTY, 15TH/16TH CENTURY
Made for an imperial noble. The square badge is woven with gold thread on a midnight blue satin ground with a crouching muscular qilin, with dragon head, scaly body and hoofed legs. The beast partially resting on a rocky outcrop above rolling and cresting waves. To the sides are lotus, lingzhi and bamboo growing from rocky cliffs. The sky is filled with ruyi-shaped clouds and flames.
14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) square
Provenance
Linda Wrigglesworth, London

Brought to you by

Angela Kung
Angela Kung

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Lot Essay

Insignia badges were first introduced shortly after the establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368. The earliest laws governing insignia badges date from 1391. Those laws specified that imperial dukes were permitted to wear badges decorated with the mythical qilin. However, during the Ming period, the right to actually wear the appropriate badge also had to be granted by the emperor himself as an honour. Rank in itself did not entitle even the highest noble to wear insignia badges.

Another example of this design survives in a private collection, and is published by Jackson & Hugus, Ladder to the Clouds, 1999, p. 111. That badge has an identical pattern but is woven on a red ground and has been reused in Tibet for ritual purpose.

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