A Chinese silk informal jacket, 19th century. Photo Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions.

of brilliant turquoise satin finely embroidered with flowers and butterflies and blooming peonies in red, pink, blue and yellow, flaming pearls in couched gold thread, and a wider border of scrolling lotuses and the Eight Buddhist Emblems, 61.6cm high and 100cm wide. Estimate £400-600

清十九／二十世纪 蝴蝶牡丹吉祥八宝蓝色五彩绣衣

Clothing children in auspicious garments, especially in occasion of celebratory festivals such as the Lunar New Year, has been part of Chinese traditional costumes. Traditionally, Chinese children wear several different styles of shoes and hats from infancy through adolescence that mimicked the features of especially powerful animals. the purpose was to protect children against evil spirits. Auspicious hats were also worn beyond the stage of infancy, thought of bestowing good wishes of success and moral teaching. Hats that represent animals, such a stye one included in this section, such as tigers, are intended to protect babies by warding off evil spirits. animals helped define Chinese political, social and personal identify.
Associated with the directions, the seasons, time of life, heavenly bodies, the years of the zodiac, gods and heroes of legends, animals represented the yin and the yang aspects of nature and thus ensured harmony in the lives of the young.
Each animal of the zodiac, for example, symbolic of various personal traits, determined one’s destiny. Images of tigers and
lions, for example, common theme in children’s garments, protected the entrances into tombs and temples, and by extension, therefore, also the young lives of the Chinese. Dragons symbolise potent and auspicious power; butterflies, hudie 蝴蝶, symbolise beauty, elegance and long life, being the character die homophone with die 耋, meaning seventy or eighty years of age; the snakes possess gracious morality and great wisdom.

For reference, see Berliner, Nancy (1986), Chinese Folk Art; Lin, Phylis Lan and Christi Lan Lin (1996), Stories of Chinese Children’s Hats: Symbolism and Folklore; Garrett, Valery (1977), A Collector’s Guide to Chinese Dress Accessories.

Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions. Chinese Ceramics and Asian Works of Art. 17th May 2014. http://www.dreweatts.com/