Dumbarton Oaks - Mandarin Square

Print this page

Download image

Mandarin Square

Chinese, Tang Dynasty
ca. 618 - 906
24.1 cm x 35.6 cm (9 1/2 in. x 14 in.)
silk on silk
HC.T.1923.04.(T)

Not on view

Permalink: http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/987

Additional Images

Description

Mandarin (“bureaucrat”) squares, also known as rank badges, are large tapestry or embroidered badges with colorful animal or bird insignia that indicate rank. These were sewn onto the coats of officials in Imperial China. This Ming Dynasty badge is a silk tapestry weave (known as k’o-ssu or “cut silk” in Chinese) and represents two peacocks in stylized clouds, the insignia of a civilian officer, third rank.

J. Carder

Bibliography

Leigh Ashton and Basil Gray, Chinese Art (London, 1935) p. 294, no 116a and pl.

Exhibition History

"Seldom Seen," Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., April 21, 2014.

Acquisition History

Purchased from the dealer Vignier, Paris, by Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, Washington, DC, November 15, 1923;

Collection of Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, November 15, 1923 - November 29, 1940;

Gifted to Harvard University, November 29, 1940;

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, House Collection, Washington, DC

Object Last Modified: 11/16/2023