Skip to main content
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 1
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 2
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 3
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 4
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 5
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 6
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 7
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 8
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 9
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 10
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 11
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 12
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 13
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 14
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 15
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 16
AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874) image 17
Lot 173

AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU
Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874)

21 September 2020, 12:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$12,575 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

AN IMPERIAL FUR-LINED EMBROIDERED SILK SURCOAT GUNFU

Xianfeng/Tongzhi Period (1851-1874)
The surcoat constructed with a center front opening, the black damask finely woven with auspicious seasonal flowers including peony, lotus, chrysanthemum and plum, embroidered with four front-facing five-clawed dragon roundels with symbols of the constellation of the three stars, the mountains, the moon and the sun applied respectively to the front, back and shoulders, the interior lined with squirrel fur.
45in (114.3cm) long

Footnotes

清咸豐/同治 御製石青緞繡龍紋襯灰鼠皮袞服

Provenance
Legend gallery, 25 March 2017, lot 191
Bonham's San Francisco, 17 December 2013, lot 8253

來源
Legend藝廊, 2017年3月25日,拍品編號191
舊金山邦瀚斯,2013年12月17日,拍品編號8253

An emperor's surcoat was called a gunfu (lit. 'royal garment'), and is distinguished from a bufu (lit. 'a garment with a badge') which would have been worn by imperial princes and high ranking officials. An emperor's surcoat was embroidered with four front-facing five-clawed dragons set within medallions with symbols of the sun and the moon on the shoulders, and shou characters, or the constellation and the mountain after the second half of the nineteenth century on the chest and back. The lining of this jacket is squirrel fur, huishu, (灰鼠) which was utilized even for the Imperial wardrobe after 1820 when sable and other pelts became scarce.

For illustrations and further discussion regarding gunfu and bufu, refer to John E. Vollmer, Ruling from the Dragon Throne, Ten Speed Press, 2002, pp. 113-116. See also Christie's, New York, sale 2108: The Imperial Wardrobe, Fine Chinese Costume and Textiles from the Linda Wrigglesworth Collection, 19 March 2008, lot 113. An emperor's winter surcoat with a similarly embroidered front dragon roundel, also ornamented with the constellation symbol, is illustrated and discussed in Robert L. Thorp, Son of Heaven, Imperial Arts of China, Son of Heaven Press, Seattle, 1988, p. 74.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

FUKUI RYONOSUKE (JAPANESE, 1923-1986) Woman in profile

A CHINESE EIGHT-PANEL SCREEN INSET WITH BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN PLAQUES 20th century

A CHINESE CANTON ENAMEL BOWL WITH LARGE CORAL BRANCH Late Qing dynasty

A CHINESE PAINTED GRAY POTTERY VESSEL, HU Han-style or Han with base replaced

A CHINESE QIANJIANGCAI ENAMELED PORCELAIN OVOID JAR Late Qing dynasty/Republic period

TWO CHINESE ARCHAISTIC HARDSTONE CARVINGS

A MARBLE-MOUNTED ZITAN AND MIXED WOOD STORAGE BOX Late Qing/Republic period

TWO CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES 18th-19th century

A CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE Ye Family Studio, 1916

A CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE Ye Family Studio, 1927

A CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE Ma Family, dated 1900

Bonhams logo

Bonhams logo