A RARE CHESTNUT-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK 'DRAGON' ROBE, JIFUQianlong The vibrant chestnut ground worked in counted stitch and couched gold threads with nine five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls on the front and back panels, the shoulders and the underflap, all on a ground of multi-coloured trialling clouds interspersed with a profusion of floral sprays and the Daoist Emblems, all above a finely-drawn border of turbulent waves tossed with further vaporous clouds and craggy rocks issuing lingzhi fungi, narcissi and peach-laden branches, the matching blue-ground borders at the collar and cuffs embellished with striding dragons and other related designs, light blue silk lining. 215cm wide (84 5/8in) x 133cm (52 3/8in) long. 清乾隆 香色地繡金龍紋吉服袍 Provenance : an English private collection 來源 : 英國私人收藏 Brilliantly embroidered in fine counted stitch with nine resplendent five-clawed dragons worked in metallic gold thread and interspersed with bats, trailing clouds, auspicious emblems and blossoming flowers, the present robe is a spectacular testament to the highest standards achieved in silk embroidery by the Imperial Workshops during the 18th century. Brown-ground jifu robes are among the rarest surviving examples of Imperial garments made during the Qing dynasty. The present robe would have been worn by one of the highest-ranking member of the Imperial family of Princely rank, on the occasion of a felicitous event. Since the earliest times in China, dragons were regarded as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth and empowered with extraordinary abilities thatpared with those of the emperors. In addition, the chestnut colour, referred to in Chinese as jiang , written in two characters interchangeably meaning either 'dark red' or 'sauce', was referred to in the 'Illustrated catalogue of all the Ceremonial Trappings of the Imperial Court' Huangchao Liqi Tushi , edited in 1759, as one of the 'Five Imperial Yellows' that could be worn by the emperor's sons and first rank's princes but also the emperors when visiting their mothers or retiring in their private quarters; see M.Medley, The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Ch'ing Dynasty , London, 1982; L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe , Berkeley, 2002, pp.14-30. A Court painting in the collection of the Denmark National Museum in Copenhagen (acc.no.B.5396), dated to the Qianlong period, depicts a Prince wearing a related fur-lined brown-ground dragon robe. A further example of a related yellow-brown-ground silk dragon robe, Qianlong, from the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in Theplete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Costumes and Accessories of the Qing Court , Hong Kong, 2005, p.61, no.35. The present robe is particularly unusual for the details embroidered amongst the cloud scrolls, including abundant branches of ripened peaches, narcissi and ruyi issuing from craggy rocks. These s