Short coat: dragons and auspicious symbols
- DATE:
- late 19th century
- MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE:
- Silk, metal-wrapped yarn
- CLASSIFICATION:
- Textiles
- DIMENSIONS:
- 45 1/2 × 57 3/4 in. (115.57 × 146.69 cm)
- DEPARTMENT:
- Arts of Asia
- LOCATION:
- Not On View
- CREDIT LINE:
- Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Betty Ann Walter and Ruth Walter Benedict in memory of Ethyl Walter and Gladys Walter
- COPYRIGHT:
- Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
- OBJECT NUMBER:
- 1993.70
General Description
This colorful coat features dragons and other emblems of good luck sewn with threads that were wrapped in bright metallic casing. Dragons were thought by the Chinese to be heavenly creatures, associated with rain, wind, and the forces of nature. Their magical abilities allowed them to shrink to the size of a silkworm or expand to fill the universe.
Excerpt from
- Label text, "Asian Textiles: Art and Trade Along the Silk Road," 2018.
Web Resources
- National Museum in Krakow
Learn more about Qing dynasty textiles.