An extremely rare Imperial consort's embroidered blue gauze summer surcoat, longgua - Yongzheng period (1723-1735)

The front-opening coat finely embroidered in satin stitch and couched gold threads with eight roundels displaying dragons coiling around longevity symbols, superimposed against a ground of flames, swirling clouds and roiling waves enveloping rockwork, all picked out in bright shades of green, blue, ochre, red and white, reserved on a navy blue gauze ground, with four blue silk toggles for closure at the front
56¾ in. (144.2 cm.) long x 66 in. (167.6 cm.) across - Estimate: $200,000-250,000

Provenance: Private Australian collection.

Exhibited: Sydney, Powerhouse Museum, Evolution & Revolution, Chinese Dress 1700-1990's, 1997.

Notes: At the Qing court a surcoat was always worn over jifu, or semi-formal robes. For women this floor-length overgarment would have completely obscured the design of a semiformal court robe worn with it. The highly detailed cosmic imagery on these robes involved dragons and was philosophically important to the Manchu. Nonetheless, the surcoat emblazoned with insignia indicating rank was essential for the orderly running of government. Interestingly, Manchu women held rank and status within the Qing court independently rather than simply assuming the rank of their husbands or fathers.

After the Qianlong court attire review dating from 1759, two styles of longgua, or dragon-patterned surcoats, were assigned to Manchu noble women. Both featured eight roundels with dragons, which were determined by rank within the court. For the highest-ranking women, long, or five-clawed dragons, emblazoned their longgua - four front-facing at the shoulders, chest and back and four in profile on the skirts. The first style also included wave borders at the hem and sleeve edges. The second style, such as this example, did not include the design for the wave borders. There were matching patterns for two styles of robes worn underneath them, as well as jifu with the now more familiar design integrating all of the elements of the cosmos into a single overall pattern.

The drawing of the dragon, especially with the extended lower jaw, the quality of embroidery, as well as inclusion of red circular wanshou, or 10,000, longevity characters, suggest it predates the Qianlong reign and the codification of court attire in 1759. After that time robes of the immediate imperial family depict the long dragon with a pearl. For the highest ranks, the dragon grasps the pearl; the dragons for lower ranking persons show it stretching to reach for the pearl.

While the inclusion here of a red circular wanshou at the dragon's belly might be interpreted as a substitute for the pearl, it could also indicate birthday wishes. Nonetheless, the configuration of roundels would identify the garment was made for a high-ranking woman at the Qing court: possibly the empress, imperial consort or an imperial daughter-in-law.

Christie's. The Imperial Wardrobe: Fine Chinese Costume & Textiles from the Linda Wrigglesworth Collection. 19 March 2008, 10:00 am. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York