#c093 $950
Chinese informal silk coat, c.1900
Silk textile arts are one of China's major contributions to world culture. They reached the West from traders along the fabled Silk Road, long before Marco Polo made his trip to China. The wealthiest ancient Romans wore Chinese silks.
Between 1900 and 1925, coats like this one were made in China for the Western market. The exquisite hand embroidery transforms the coat into a wearable work of art. Oriental dress was traditionally distinguished by the use of magnificent textiles and embroidery—symbolic of rank and wealth.
Chinese hand-embroidered coats are generally exhibited flat on rods so that the viewer can appreciate the magnificent hand embroidery. While this is the best display for a work of textile art, these treasures were originally designed to be worn. Seeing the coat on a manikin allows us to view how the soft folds of the garment interact with the embroidered design.
The forbidden stitch was originally done in Beijing's Imperial City (the Forbidden City) and was reserved for Imperial garments. The forbidden stitch is a type of knot generally used as fill—see the bottom detail picture of the vase. Popular culture also refers to the forbidden stitch as the blind stitch, because supposedly the women who worked on the embroidery went blind from doing the intricate work.
Our coat is fashioned from blue silk damask, woven with a pattern of peonies. The silk is skillfully hand embroidered with a mixture of motifs, including flowers, vases, and bats. The embroidery, executed in silk floss, combines satin stitch and forbidden stitch with metallic cord couching. The bottom of the coat is decorated with an undulating wave pattern: just as the sea borders the land, so the waves on the hem delimit the coat.
The vase in the design is outlined with metallic cord couching and is filled in with densely packed knots of forbidden stitch. The ivory satin cuffs are covered in back with metallic couching and forbidden stitch. The coat is totally lined with pink China silk. The coat has an additional quilted interlining for warmth. It is curious that the fronts of the interlining are hand quilted, but the back is tied only at intervals.
The coat was purchased many years ago from a New England collector and has no known provenance.
The condition is very good to excellent. The cuffs have a few pale spots and are lightly soiled along the fold line. I have not tried to clean the coat. One should accept the risk of cleaning it only with a highly skilled professional cleaner.
It measures 42" from the shoulder to the hem.
