GOLD-THREAD AND SILK EMBROIDERY HANGING STEAMER
QING DYANSTY, 19TH CENTURY
£7,500
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 5 November 2021 at 10:00 GMT
Description
清 黑緞地織金錦五爪龍紋掛飾
gold-thread and silk on a satin ground, with three five-clawed dragons amidst ruyi clouds and chasing flaming jewels above the swirling sea
Dimensions
173cm long, 21cm widest part
Provenance
Provenance: Private UK collection, acquired by Captain Robert Edward Dudley Ryder VC, M.P (1908 – 1986) from western China as a surveyor in the 19th century, thence by descent.
Captain Robert Edward Dudley Ryder VC was a Royal Navy officer and a British recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He became a Member of Parliament after retiring from the navy.
Note: with a V&A letter dated to 7th December 1954, written by G. F. Wingfield Digby, Keeper of the Department of Textiles to Captain Robert Ryder, suggested that 'This is a streamer from a hanging, probably a door-hanging; it might also have been used on an alter-frontal, although these streamers were usually not quite so long as this. The embroidery is in gold-thread and silk on a satin ground, and I think it very probable that it came from one of the Palaces...." (see images for full letter)