A SILK CUT VELVET 'PHOENIX AND BUDDHIST LION' CHAIR COVER 19th centuryPROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NANCY HUGUSA SILK CUT VELVET 'PHOENIX AND BUDDHIST LION' CHAIR COVER19th centuryWoven in burgundy silk against a ground of gold-wrapped threads, the long central panel with a pair of resplendent phoenix soaring amidst large peony blooms, the birds' long tails artfully sweeping through the space, all above a quatrefoil enclosing a lotus bloom, a pair of Buddhist lions contesting a beribboned flowerhead, and tripartite island rising from a roiling sea, bordered on all sides by lotus scroll, lined with red brocade.66 1/8 x 21 1/2in (168 x 54.6cm)十九世紀 刺繡絲絨鳳與瑞獅椅披Provenance:Arts of Pacific Asia, Santa MonicaDr. David Hugus is a renowned collector of Chinese rank badges, and an international authority on the subject. Prior to embarking on this pursuit, Dr. Hugus served with honor in the United States military. During his numerous tours in Asia and elsewhere, he earned a Masters in Science and a doctorate degree in Operations Research Systems Analyst (ORSA) from the Naval Postgraduate School, as well as a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and other distinctions. Upon reading an article by Schuyler Cammann of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, Dr. Hugus discovered Chinese rank badges and took it upon himself to expand the canon of English-language scholarship on this topic. Since then, he has published Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank (2000, co-authored with Beverley Jackson) and Chinese Rank Badges: Symbols of Power, Wealth, and Intellect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (2022). Over the course of his scholarship, Dr. Hugus and his wife, Nancy, have develop a distinguished collection of Chinese rank badges, textiles, and other works of art.