Embroidered Fabric for an Empress's Gunfu (Court Surcoat)
<p>This fabric may have been commissioned for the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) late in her life. Symbols of Chinese imperial authority appear in the roundels in the center of the uncut cloth. These symbols, including the sun, moon, constellations, and rocks, appear on the coat’s shoulders, chest, and back, while the five-toed imperial dragon and standing waters are visible on the hem and cuffs.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1898
- Dimensions
- 303.5 × 199 cm (119 1/2 × 78 1/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Manchu
Artist
Textile
The Manchus are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Qing (1636–1912) dynasties of China were established and ruled by the Manchus, who are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in northern China.
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Record
Verified by WattsOSSource
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified