An embroidered dragon roundel from the surcoat of an Emperor or Imperial son, Qing dynasty, 18th century.
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Embroidered in satin stich and fine couched gold thread with a front facing imperial dragon, the sinuous body cocued in fine gold thread against a dark blue ground, surrounded by bats and chasing the flaming pearl amidst cloud formations. Diameter 32.5 cm.
Wear.
Provenance
From the Collection of Axel Lagrelius (1863-1944). Thence by descent within the family. Axel was a Swedish chemical engineer, business leader and art collector.
Lagrelius sponsored several scientific expeditions, such as Alfred Nathorst to Spitsbergen in 1898, Greenland 1899, and Otto Nordenskjold expedition to the South Pole 1902-1904, continuously Johan Gunnar Anderssons Expeditions in China from 1916, onwards. He held several honorary titles and was from 1907 In 1907 appointed superintendent of the court.
In 1926 he accompanied the crown prince of Sweden on his journey to China, where he got the honorary title of a mandarin of the court. He was one of the founding members of the China Committee and one of the investors in the Karlbeck syndicate that purchased Chinese Works of Art in China through Orvar Karlbeck 1928-1932.
Literature
The black and white image taken when Lagrelius visited China with the Crown Prince in 1926.
From the top left, no 1 O. Nordqvist, 2, 3, 4 Erik Nyström, 5, 6, 7.
From the lower left, no 3 Mr Everlöf, no 4. Crown Princess Louise Mountbatten, No 5. H.R.H. Crown Prins Gustav Adolf (later King Gustav VI Adolf), no 6 Mrs Rudebäck, no 7 Mr Rudebäck, no 8 Axel Lagrelius, 9 Johan Gunnar Andersson.
More information
Roundels like these would have been made for an emperor or worn by one of his sons and would have been placed on the left shoulder of the robe.