A RARE IMPERIAL MIDNIGHT-BLUE-GROUND 'DRAGON ROUNDEL' EMBROIDERED ROBE Circa 1870A RARE IMPERIAL MIDNIGHT-BLUE-GROUND 'DRAGON ROUNDEL' EMBROIDERED ROBECirca 1870Meticulously worked on the front and back in satin stitch and couched gold threads with eight roundels each enclosing a writhing, five-clawed dragon clutching or pursuing the flaming pearl amidst dense trailing scrolls of ruyi clouds interspersed with bats and the eight Auspicious Emblems, all above the terrestrial diagram and lishui stripe at the hem, picked out in vibrant shades of blue, purple, yellow, red, coral and green, the matching dark-blue-ground collar and cuffs worked with further dragons amidst further bats, clouds and waves, lined in blue silk.130.5cm (51 3/8in) long.約1870年 御製石青緞繡八團五爪龍紋袍Provenance: a distinguished Hong Kong private collection來源：香港顯赫私人收藏Delicately embroidered with eight roundels, each enclosing a five-clawed dragons clutching, as opposed to chasing, the flaming pearls of wisdom, the present robe is exceptionally rare and would have been worn by one the highest-ranking female members of the Qing Court.Robes decorated with roundels of dragons on a plain ground are very rare and represent the second of three styles of jifu attire, the first being the more common robes fully embroidered with dragons, clouds, flames and auspicious symbols, whilst the third consisting of garments decorated with dragon roundels but lacking the lishui stripe. The 'Illustrated Regulations for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court' Huangchao liqi tushi皇朝禮器圖式, edited in 1759, confirmed the importance of a new type of robe, the jifu or longpao, as semi-formal court wear and brought the cosmic purpose of Imperial rule into sharp focus. The careful arrangement of sinuous dragons writhing amid clouds and above the universal ocean washing against the earth mountain, embodied royalty and dominion and expressed the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the well being of his subjects. Capable of flying high in the sky and diving back into the sea, dragons were regarded as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth and credited with extraordinary powers that compared to those of the emperor. Dragons thus transcended the political and ethnic priorities of Imperial government to become universal symbols of the empire. 'Dragon' robes became supreme significant social markers representing access to power. The right to wear such garments depended on rank and status. The Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty were keen on projecting an evocative and powerful image of themselves, and their court costumes conveyed legitimacy and heritage. Despite their initial reluctance to wear the same type of robes as their Ming predecessors, by the reign of the Kangxi emperor, the Manchu elites were keen wearers of richly-ornamented 'dragon' robes on semi-formal court occasions and official duties. Compare with a related yellow-ground silk robe, mid-19th century, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, illustrated by R.D.Jacobsen, Imperial Silks. Ch'ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, vol.1, 2000, p.65, no.3.is_parse: 20230413image: yuzhan_bonhams_item.jpgsold_price_type: £