EXHIBITIONS
collection connection
The Dragon Decoded
PORTICO W I N T E R – S P R I N G 2 0 1 4
Katie Gephart, Curatorial Assistant
Someone left a winter coat at the Taft Museum this
holiday season, but not in the coatroom. The owner
of the fur-lined, blue silk coat (fig. 1) is not a local
fashionista but rather the Denver Museum of Art,
which generously lent this and many other fascinating
objects as part of Threads of Heaven: Silken Legacy
of China’s Last Dynasty. This array of Chinese robes,
accessories, and textiles complements the Taft’s
permanent collection of ceramics, which shares a
number of decorative motifs and symbols with the
visiting objects.
Chief among these are dragons, long-standing
symbols of imperial power. In 1644, Manchu forces
from the north invaded China and established the
Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The Manchu appropriated
many traditional Chinese symbols, including the
dragon, to both ease the political transition and link
themselves to the continuum of Chinese imperial rule.
Dragons adorned clothing, accessories, wall hangings,
and ceramic objects. Visual clues such as the color of
the robe, the number of its dragons, and the number
of claws on the dragons’ feet expressed the wearer’s
relative status and power. In 1738, an imperial decree
stated that no one below the rank of second-degree
prince could wear robes showing five-clawed dragons,
or long. If anyone of a lower status owned such a
garment, one claw per foot had to be removed (fig. 2).
6
This semiformal court robe (jifu) features nine fiveclawed dragons in addition to the Eight Buddhist
Emblems (including conch shells and vases) that
brought peace and good fortune to the imperial
family members who wore them. The number nine
represents eternity. The delicacy of the silk and metallic
threads contrasts with the lush leopard-fur lining of
the coat, “winterizing” it to protect the wearer from
the dramatic temperature drops of Chinese winters.
1. M
anchu Man's Semiformal Court Robe, China, mid-1800s, woven silk
and metal thread tapestry, fur lining. Denver Art Museum, Neusteter
Textile Collection: Gift of Caroline Bancroft, 1942.1
Fur lining would have been very expensive, so most
winter robes were only lined in cotton or silk wadding.
The color blue suggests that the robe belonged to a
member of the imperial family or another high-ranking
official, as emperors and empresses traditionally favored
yellow clothing. This robe, along with most of the other
objects in Threads of Heaven, dates from the period
when Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) and her
court were in power.
In the Taft collection, a few pieces were designed for
the imperial family or the court, as denoted by the
presence of dragons. For example, the center of this
Qing dynasty saucer (fig. 3) features a five-clawed
dragon chasing a flaming pearl. The dragon, a
stand-in for the strength and authority of the emperor,
reaches out to capture the pearl, a symbol for wisdom
rooted in Buddhism. The green, yellow, and aubergine
color scheme links the piece to the famille noire tradition
of glazing. Originally, the saucer was an imperial ware with
simple monochrome sides and bore the reign mark of the
Kangxi emperor (1661–1722). Later, however, a false reign
mark and darker color scheme were added. This was likely
done in China before the saucer’s export to exaggerate its
famille noire palette, a style very popular among eager
Western collectors.
Imperial porcelain slowly began to reach the West during
the late 19th century, but not until the Boxer Rebellion of
1900, with its attendant looting, did European and American
collectors finally see the finest wares of the Ming and Qing
dynasties. Further economic turmoil that culminated in the
fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 drove many court members to
sell their household possessions, and even the imperial dragon
robes entered the export market. Now dispersed in museums
and private collections throughout the world, dragon robes
and porcelains continue to evoke the grandeur and elegance
of the court and culture of 19th-century China.
2. Manchu Man’s Semiformal Court Robe (detail), China,
1736–1795 with later alterations, silk and metal thread
embroidery on silk gauze. Denver Art Museum, Neusteter
Textile Collection: Gift of James P. Grant and Betty Grant
Austin, 1977.191
3. Saucer Dish, Kangxi Reign
(Qing dynasty), about 1700,
with later additions, porcelain.
Taft Museum of Art, 1931.90