CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, XIXEME SIECLE

The roundels of this surcoat depict two different dragons: the upper roundels depict five-clawed dragons with scaly bodies and the lower roundels show kui dragons with scrolling bodies. Surcoats of this type with kui dragons with scrolling bodies were given to Imperial Consorts of the third to fifth rank. Compare the present surcoat with a similarly-decorated embroidered silk surcoat from the Guangxu period in the Mactaggart Art Collection, University of Alberta Museum, illustrated in: John E. Vollmer & Jacqueline Simcox, Emblems of Empire, Selections from the Mactaggart Art Collection, 2010, p.70-71.