A DEEP AUBERGINE-GROUND SILVER AND GOLD-EMBROIDERED 'LONGEVITY' JACKET, 19TH CENTURY 19th century Finely embroidered on the front and back in gold-wrapped thread and satin stitch with seven roundels each enclosing a Shou medallion surrounded by five entwined bats with bright blue eyes completing the circle, all interspersed with further Shou characters, all on a deep-midnight-blue ground, the cream-ground satin sleeve bands delicately embroidered in gold-wrapped thread with further Shou medallions enclosed within borders of gourds issuing from leafy stems, trimmed with a high collar and turquoise blue lining. 153cm (60 2/8in) wide x 108cm (42 1/2in) long. 注脚 十九世紀 黑地捻金銀繡團壽紋馬褂 Provenance: Linda Wrigglesworth, London 來源：倫敦Linda Wrigglesworth Superbly embroidered in wrapped gold threads with a profusion of Shou characters, the present robe would have been worn by a high-ranking Han Chinese woman. Robes decorated with Shou characters, such as the present example, were known as 'Hundred Longevity Character Garments' baishouyi. They were thought to be imbued with the power to extend one's life and were normally presented as gifts to ageing parents by dutiful sons. At the time, the wealthiest families obtained the finest silks from Shanghai or Suzhou and engaged well-known tailors to make their garments; see L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2000, p.68. Women in Han society often paired calf-length garments with pleated silk skirts, a combination that had existed for centuries prior to the establishment of the Qing dynasty. As the present example illustrates, these robes were fastened down the centre front, in Ming style, or with the right-front overlap with a loop-and-toggle-button closure. They were typically worn during celebrations such as New Year, birthdays, seasonal festivals and formal family gatherings. 'Longevity' jackets, such as the present lot, were typically paired with a pleated skirt similarly decorated with Shou characters embroidered in blue, an example of which is illustrated by V.Garrett, Chinese Dress: From the Qing to the Present, Clarendon, VT, 1997, p.125, fig.242. The elegant combination of Shou characters, meaning longevity and bats, convey highly-auspicious symbolism. Bats represent 'good fortune' and five bats represents 'The Five Blessings' of prosperity, long life, love of virtue, health and a natural death. Combined, the decoration of five bats surrounding the Shou character forms a rebus for Wu fu peng shou 五福捧壽, which may be translated as 'Longevity held up by the five blessings'. The elegant designs of double gourds embroidered on the cream sleevebands further reinforce the wish for longevity bestowed upon the wearer. In addition to sounding similar to the words for blessing and emoluments fulu, double gourds hulu are also associated with Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Daoist Immortals, who was usually depicted holding a double gourd containing the elixir of Immortality. Compare with two related deep-blue-ground silk robes, 19th century, similarly decorated with Shou characters surrounded by five bats, illustrated by L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2000, p.69, and Heaven's Embroidered Cloths. One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong, 1995, pp.248-249.