Yellow robe with dragons, silk, brocaded, China, c. 1860

Robe of yellow satin brocaded in tapestry fashion with threads of coloured silks and gold. The five-clawed dragons are displayed coiled round or holding clasped in their claws, flaming jewels, with a background of scrolled clouds enclosing flying bats as symbols of happiness and the eight Buddhist emblems of good fortune (pa ehi-hsiang). The broad striped border below culminating in crested waves, sewn with precious objects, and beating upon rocks, and the other accessories are modelled on the usual pattern. The sleeves are unusually small and the waist is strung with a cord of yellow silk ending in the front in small tassels. It is lined with dark blue silk, padded with a layer of cotton-wool.

Purchased from H. J. Jacomb (Elmfield, Upper Clapton.), accessioned in 1881. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
The Acquisition Register notes that the robe is 'said to have been taken at the Summer Palace, Pekin'. However, there is no further information in the Museum archives. Dr Stephen Bushell, who served at the British Legation in Beijing from 1868-1900, suggested in a note of March 1903 that the robe may have come from the Summer Palace. He gives no further evidence for this assessment other than the fact that this is an imperial robe. The Summer Palace, or Yuanming Yuan, was the imperial summer retreat located north of Beijing, which was plundered and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860.

12-1881