Embroidered Fabric for an Empress's Gunfu (Court Surcoat)
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 1898–1908
Manchu, China
China
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.
Silk, warp-float faced 7:1 satin weave; embroidered with silk and gilt- and silvered-metal-strip-wrapped silk in satin and stem stitches; laid work and couching