Physical description
Coat of dark blue silk satin, with scarlet satin borders and sleeve bands; embroidered with coloured silks and gold thread. Probably worn when attending worship at a Daoist temple. Woven with the brand of the Treasury manufactory.
On the back is the yin-yang symbol, the creative monad, enveloped in rays. On other parts of the garment are the eight trigrams within medallions strewn with fruit, flowers, and Daoist symbols. The intervals are filled with flying cranes, bats and scrolled clouds. The borders are embroidered with flower-baskets, bats, ruyi sceptres and floral stems.
Place of Origin
China (made)
Date
19th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Satin silk with embroidery in silks and gold thread
Dimensions
Length: 128 cm, Width: 166.5 cm
Object history note
Purchased. Registered File number 31783/1901.
Note on register:
A dark satin cloak with scarlet borders and sleeve bands gorgeously embroidered in bright colours and gold.
The large golden disc on the back enveloped in blue rays is the yin and yang symbol. The creative monad with its two nuclei of ancient Chinese philosophy, the eight trigrams being displayed within medallions strewn with fruit, flowers and symbols of Daoist character, on other parts of the garment. The intervals are filled in with scrolled clouds and flying storks carrying flowers in their beaks. The red borders are embroidered with flower baskets, bats, ruyi sceptres and other symbols. Such a coat would be appropriately worn when attending worship at a Daoist temple in olden time, and it may have figured as the costume of some Boxer chieftain, as they are described in narratives of the siege of the Legations at Beijing as clothed in cloaks of this nature. It was perhaps originally an imperial cloak. The satin being woven with the brand of the Treasury manufactory.
Descriptive line
Robe, satin silk with embroidery in silks and gold thread, China, Qing dynasty, 19th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wilson, Verity, "Cosmic Raiment: Daoist Traditions of Liturgical Clothing" in Orientations, May 1995, pp. 42-49
Labels and date
TAOIST ROBE
QING DYNASTY
1800-1900
The robe would have been worn during a religious ceremony. It is embroidered with Taoist symbols, including the Yin and Yang (T'ai Chi) and the Eight Trigrams (Pa Kua). Most of these Taoist robes are made from full widths of uncut silk with limited seaming, but this one is unusual in having sleeves and side seams.
Silk satin embroidered with silk and gold thread.
China
Museum no. 1620-1901 []
Materials
Silk (textile); Gold thread; Silk thread
Techniques
Satin weave; Embroidered
Subjects depicted
Cranes (birds); Eight trigrams; Yin-yang; Bats (animals); Flowers; Cloud scrolls; Fruit; Ruyi
Categories
Clothing; Textiles; Daoism; Embroidery
Collection
East Asia Collection