TWO EMBROIDERED SILK FAN CASES 19th century Both finely embroidered in counted stitch technique, the first with two deep coral-red bats hovering amidst vaporous ruyi clouds executed in vibrant blue shades, the blue cord with a pair of porcelain spheres decorated with polychrome floral designs, 30.5cm (12in) long; the second 18th century example of fine silk gauze finely-embroidered in subtly-coloured silk and gold and silver wrapped threads with an intricate diaper pattern incorporating Shou and Shuangxi characters with similar woven edgings, the yellow cord with couched gold knots, 31cm (12 2/8in) long. (2). 注脚 十九世紀 扇套兩件 Provenance: Linda Wrigglesworth, London 來源：倫敦Linda Wrigglesworth Finely woven with auspicious designs of bats and elegant medallions enclosing the characters for longevity and double happiness, the present fan cases would have been suspended from a belt girdle worn around the waist, over a silk robe. Purses were acceptable gifts to mark special occasions and it was the custom for the Emperor to reward his high-ranking officials with elegant sets of five purses, which included a fan and a spectacle case, a pair of drawstring purses containing jewelled charms and a flat purse for storing money; see V.Garret, Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present, Claredon, VT, 2008, pp.89-91. Compare with a related silk fan case, part of a complete set for a high-ranking official, illustrated by V.Garret, Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present, Claredon, VT, 2008, pp.89-91. Also compare the bats depicted on one of these fan cases with the designs depicted on a silk drawstring purse, late 19th century, illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch'ing Dynasty Textiles from the Minneapolis Institute of arts, Minneapolis, MA, 2000, p.363.