Large Imperial Silk Velvet with metal brocade (Kang)
360 x 190 cm (11' 10" x 6' 3")
China, early 18th century (Qing-Dynasty, Yongzheng-Period)
Condition: good, made from three panels, some small abrasions and small missing parts, slight signs of use, overall good condition
Silk Velvet with metal brocade

Large, luxurious silk velvets were used as kang covers and produced in southern China in centres like Ch'angchou in Fukien province and Nanking in Jiangsu province. Throughout the Forbidden City and in wealthy aristocratic households, velvets were used as chair covers, seating mats and on the raised platform, kang, where most of the daily life took place. A cloud medallion which can be associated with longevity dominates the centre in which a cloud collar is surrounded by four butterflies. Elegantly drawn lotus tendrils fill the delightful field which is protected by four fierce-looking fret dragons woven in metal thread. The outer border shows happy dragons flying through clouds - but the dragon symbolism doesn't stop here. In the inner border are abstract dragons drawn in a style we find on archaic Chinese bronzes. These large velvets are always woven in three sections. The centre is woven separately from the sides. As the sides are woven continuously on one loom, the direction of the pile on the right-hand side runs opposite to the left, giving a playful interaction with the light when observed from different sides. A smaller example, but with exactly the same drawing, can be found in 'Imperial Silks', Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2000, Volume II p. 1093.