龍袍 longpao (dragon robe)

龍袍 longpao (dragon robe) , 1800s, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: tabby; gold thread; brocade; silk

Dimensions:
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 137.2 x 216 cm
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 85 1/16 x 54 in

Credit line: Source unknown

Accession number: 0000.1030

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
“Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art,” Nov-2005, Mary Dusenbury
The restrained elegance of this robe is unusual
among extant Qing long pao and suggests an owner of discriminating taste. The imagery points to a mature man of a serious bent.
There is an emphasis on Buddhist (canopy, twin fish) and Daoist (crane, basket, pavilions) imagery; on symbols of long life (cranes and the character shou) and immortality (Daoist motifs especially cranes and the carefully depicted pavilions of the immortals); and an unusual exclusion of most secular auspicious motifs.

Archive Label 2003:
The dull magnificence of this semi-formal court robe appears austere in comparison with most other Qing dynasty long pao. Except for the loom-embroidered white silk eyes of the dragons, the patterning is entirely achieved by brocaded gold-wrapped threads on a dull red ground.

Eight main dragons with flaming pearls dominate the garment with a ninth on the right panel beneath the front overflap. Except for a few auspicious bats among the clouds and inconspicuous pearls in the waves at the hem, the primary iconography is divided between Buddhist and Daoist imagery and shou, an ideograph meaning “long-life”. Motifs are balanced and given space. A pair of cranes, coursers of Daoist immortals, flank the central mountain at the hem and appear again on the sleeve bands. Daoist pavilions rise above the waves further out. A Buddhist canopy, flanked by a pair of shou, occupies the focal position right below the central dragon. A pair of fish (Buddhist), a basket with ruyi scepter (Daoist), more shou, and a few other motifs drawn from Buddhist and Daoist imagery complete the iconography.

The restrained elegance of the robe, the careful balance between Buddhist and Daoist imagery, the unusual exclusion of the popular “Eight Precious Things” motifs, the concern for long life represented in the carefully depicted pavilions of the immortals in the waves at the hem and sleeves and in the repetition of “long-life” ideographs provide clues to the character and identity of the owner of this garment. They suggest a mature man of a serious bent but with the philosophical balance typical of an affluent, educated Chinese gentleman, perhaps a Han Chinese scholar-official serving at the Manchu court.