A rare midnight-blue gauze surcoat with crane roundel, bufu, Guangxu period (1875-1908). Estimate $40,000 – $60,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Made for a first rank civil official, the elegant, deep midnight-blue silk gauze is worked in counted stitch with roundels enclosing lotus growing from water. The front and back of the robe are set with integral crane roundels, outlined in gold and silver threads. 42 ¼ in. (107.3 cm.) long x 66 ¼ in. (168.2 cm.) wide

Provenance: Jon Eric Riis, Atlanta, 2006.

Notes: Qing court attire was divided into summer and winter clothing. The date for the seasonal change of dress was decided by the Board of Rites and was issued as an imperial edict. The change into summer clothing was in the third lunar month, and change into winter clothing in the ninth lunar month. Regardless of the actual temperature at the time, once the edict had been issued, everyone was required to change into the appropriate seasonal clothing promulgated by the court. 

This extremely rare robe with its fine gauze material was made for summer. It has an integral crane roundel on both the front and back, indicating that it was made for a first-rank civil official. A black gauze robe worked with shoucharacter roundels and set with an egret badge (for a sixth-rank civil official) is in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 51 - Costumes and Accessories of the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 224, no. 143. An array of both formal and informal gauze robes from the Charlotte Hill Grant collection were included in an exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, Lighter than Air: Gauze Robes from China, 17 May 2003-30 November 2003. 

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 17 - 18 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza