A pair of framed Chinese kesi textile civil rank badges dating from the Ming dynasty. One features a pair of mandarin ducks, indicating the 6th or 7th civil rank. The other features a pair of silver pheasants, indicating the 5th rank.

Dimensions are: the sight area measures 12 inches tall X 15 1/2 inches wide, 30.5 cm X 39.4 cm, while the frame measures 13 inches tall X 16 1/4 inches wide, 33 cm X 41.3 cm. All measurements are approximate.

Condition: There is significant separation at the seams as well as staining throughout.

A reminder that all lots are sold as-is. We have sought to record the changes in the condition of this piece after its initial manufacture as diligently as possible; however, as stated in our terms, condition reports are statements of opinion and not representations or warranties. Oakridge Auction Gallery bears no responsibility for any error or omission.

Provenance: From the collection of Mr. Williams in Texas. Mr. Williams has more than 50 years of collecting experience in Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, and the Central Plains of China. He has participated in sales around the world including in Hong Kong and throughout Tibet and Europe.

Notes: Kesi, or "cut silk," is a weaving technique in which short lengths of weft thread are tucked and knotted into the warp, obscuring it entirely. This means that the textile is double sided and identical on both the front and back. Unlike other textiles, in kesi weaving each color area is woven from a separate bobbin, making the style both technically demanding and time-consuming, which adds to its desirability and air of luxury. To this day, kesi weaving is done exclusively by hand using a special loom; there are no machines or shortcuts and it is as labor intensive now in the 21st century as it was in the Tang Dynasty.

Along with their artistic value, these two kesi textiles have significant socio-political value. They are civil rank badges, also known as mandarin badges, dating from the Ming Dynasty. These badges were regularly worn on the court robes of civil officials to indicate their political rank, hence their names. Unlike their later, more common Qing Dynasty counterparts, these early badges featured two of three birds instead of one. Similarly, while the backgrounds of Qing Dynasty rank badges feature many auspicious and Buddhist emblems over a sun-lit wave ground--mimicking the designs of contemporary dragon robes--the badges of the Ming Dynasty have colorful cloud-form backgrounds with the occasional flower. Their sizes and placements differ as well; Ming Dynasty civil rank badges were large and trapezoidal, covering most of the chest of the robe, and Qing Dynasty badges were smaller, square, and came in pairs to decorate the front and back of the robe.

These two framed kesi textile rank badges are an explosion of color. Bright blues, reds, yellows, and browns ebb and swirl around the pairs of birds, who swoop and whirl around one another. One badge features mandarin ducks as kaleidoscopic as the rows of clouds behind them, with wing feathers in alternating colors. One bird flies left, following the course of the clouds that flow horizontally across the panel, while the other curves back around, correcting its course to soar alongside its partner. If not for their striking wing- and tail-tips with pointed, azure feathers, the ducks would be lost among the streaming clouds behind them. In the Ming Dynasty, the mandarin duck represented the fourth civil rank.

The silver pheasants of the other panel mark a stark contrast from the ducks. Their poses match those of the ducks, with one flying left and the other swinging around to meet it; however, with their long, flowing tails and floating neck feathers, they almost seem suspended in midair. Indeed, the clouds behind them follow less of a set path, lazily eddying like smoke, suggesting a stillness to the air. The pheasants also boldly stand out against the prismatic clouds, their white bodies and wings gleaming with short rows of feathers like scales. While the mandarin ducks feel substantial and earthly as they carry themselves along the winds, the pheasants feel ethereal and weightless, letting the air cradle them aloft. Silver pheasants represented the fifth civil rank throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

These masterful kesi civil rank badges are each impressive in their own right, but together they make a meaningful and alluring pair that mutually complement one another.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City houses a similar rank badge under accession number 36.65.31. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London also houses a similar example under accession number FE.11-1986.

High resolution photos can be found here."

緙絲，又稱「刻絲」，是中國傳統絲綢藝術品中的精華。 是中國絲織業中最傳統的一種挑經顯緯，極具欣賞裝飾性絲織品。 宋元以來一直是皇家禦用織物之一，常用以織造帝後服飾、禦真（禦容像）和摹緙名人書畫。 因織造過程極其細致，摹緙常勝於原作，而存世精品又極為稀少，是當今織繡收藏、拍賣的亮點。明代前期、中期的文官補服圖案多用雙禽表現，晚期才改為單禽。其圖案崇尚簡潔大氣，色彩鮮明。此件拍品為典型明中期緙絲文官補子。其中一件作品為四品文官補子，畫面上下兩只鴛鴦相對而望，四周彩雲繚繞。鴛鴦古稱「匹鳥」，據說鴛鴦成對，鴛鳴鴦和，左雄右雌，雙雙飛翔，夜晚雌雄羽翼掩合交頸而眠。若其偶失，從不再配。《詩經小雅》載：「鴛鴦於飛，畢之羅之。君子萬年，福壽宜之」，體現了古代「五倫」中夫妻美好的關系，是一種吉祥的瑞鳥。其作為官員的補子，是取其羽毛上聳，象征堅定忠心；眠宿如有敕令， 喻其兢兢業業。另一幅作品為五品官員補子，兩只白鷴兩兩相望，周圍金地滿布祥雲。白鷴形體很像野雉，羽毛白色，有細黑紋，面頰赤紅，脖子有青毛如絲，尾羽很長。白鷴產於南方，自古以來一直被視為吉祥物。白鷴還是一種忠誠的 「義鳥」。傳說宋朝少帝趙昺在崖山時，人送白鷴一只，他親自餵養在舟中。少帝投海殉國後，白鷴在籠中悲鳴奮躍不止，終與鳥籠一同墜入海中。後人稱白鷴為 「義鳥」。所以，白鷴鳥的形象作為五品官員補子，取其行止閑雅，為官不急不躁，並且吉祥忠誠。此畫幅采用平緙、勾緙、長短戧、木梳戧等緙織技法，緙工精致，技法純熟多變，是兩件極其難得的館藏級明代緙絲珍品。兩幅作品在古時就是忠貞不二，吉祥閑雅的象征，現經裝裱入框，成為了現代時尚的裝飾精品，也代表了比翼雙飛，執子之手的美好寓意，是藏家們收藏與實用並存的精品之作。 可參閱大都會博物館館藏，編號36.65.31(fig. 1)；英國維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館館藏，編號FE.11-1986(fig. 2)。参阅链接请见上方英文。"