A very large and Imperial midnight-blue-ground silk embroidered 'dragon' panelKangxiThe rectangular panel finely embroidered with a powerful five-clawed dragon featuring a sinuous body finely picked up in dense couched gold thread and leaping above tumultuous waves in pursuit of a partially-visible 'flaming pearl', surrounded by colourful wispy clouds, all on a midnight-blue ground. 217cm (85 1/2in) x 93cm (36 1/2 in).注脚清康熙 禦制藍地五爪龍紋壓金彩繡Provenance: a Hong Kong private collection, late 1980sJohn Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1990An English private collection, 1994-2005John Eskenazi Ltd., London, 2007Christopher Bruckner Asian Art Gallery, London, 2007A European private collectionPublished and Illustrated: J.Eskenazi, Chinese Silk Textiles from 14th-18th Century, Milan, February-March 1995Hali, magazine issue 79, February / March 1995, pp. 58-59Christopher Bruckner, Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, London, 2005, no.33.來源：香港私人收藏，二十世紀八十年代末英國倫敦古董商，John Eskenazi Ltd.，1990年英國私人收藏，1994-2005年英國倫敦古董商，John Eskenazi Ltd.，2007年英國倫敦古董商，Christopher Bruckner Asian Art Gallery，2007年歐洲私人收藏展覽著錄：意大利米蘭，J.Eskenazi，《Chinese Silk Textiles from 14th-18th Century》，1995年2月至3月Hali雜誌第79期，1995年2/3月，58-59頁英國倫敦，Christopher Bruckner，《Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces》，2005年，編號33The powerful dragon on the present panel displays the extraordinary weaving of the imperial workshops of the Qing dynasty. This panel probably formed part of a very large imperial hanging that functioned either as a backdrop or curtain in one of the ceremonial halls within the Forbidden City. Brilliantly woven in gold and five-coloured silk threads, the dragon features a shining face and scales that contrast with its matte tongue, mane, and claw tips. In style, the present embroidery closely compares with a silk hanging of a full-faced dragon embroidered on a velvet panel, 17th century, illustrated in Heavens' Embroidered Cloths. One Thousand Year of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong, 1995, no.9. Also compare with a similarly rendered dragon, Kangxi, illustrated in Weaving China's Past. The Amy S. Clague Collection of Chinese Textiles, Phoenix, 2000, no.22.