University of Alberta Museums Search

Item Details

Accession Number 2005.5.75 Title Silk Formal Vest for a Woman Category clothing Object Type vest Artist unknown Date Made ca. 1880 Place Made China Culture Chinese Period Qing 19th century Materials dark blue silk satin embroidered with silk and metal-wrapped threads and edged with green silk fringe Materials Glossary Embroidery View Materials Glossary Details » Measurements overall: 106 cm x 86 cm; neck to hem: 106 cm Description

This embroidered vest with a fringe features a rank badge with a crane - which represents the first civil rank - indicating that the female wearer’s patriarch likely held this position. The design appears on both…

This embroidered vest with a fringe features a rank badge with a crane - which represents the first civil rank - indicating that the female wearer’s patriarch likely held this position. The design appears on both the front and back surrounded by symmetrical embroidered dragons and phoenixes. Ruyi-shaped clouds in blue, red, yellow, and green adorn the black silk. The lower part is decorated with motifs of rocks, curling waves, and diagonally-striped water. The hem of the vest is trimmed with a long fringe of green silk.

Read More + Credit Line Gift of Sandy and Cécile Mactaggart