Dragons, color provide clues to worth of Chinese silk robes

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November 12, 2014 | $1.00
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Volume 42, Issue 46 | thearknewspaper.com
Notes from an Appraiser
Dragons, color provide clues
to worth of Chinese silk robes
By CYNTHIA SHAVER
cshaver@thearknewspaper.com
———
I
had a challenging insurance appraisal
last month: a framed Chinese blue silk
five-clawed dragon robe.
I needed to identify the quality character-
istics of Chinese dragon robes and contacted
a scholar of Qing dynasty textiles and asked
his opinion. He is not in the business of
giving values, but in evaluating the existing
robe and giving quality characteristics to
consider.
I learned color was the number one
quality characteristic. Usually condition is
the first consideration, but enough robes
survive that color trumps condition. Of
the existing dragon robes, blue satin with
couched gold is the most common. The
color signifies rank, although there are
exceptions to this. This was blue satin, not
gauze, brocade or split weave. Blue was
reserved for a rank of third prince, and the
five-clawed dragon — a quality sign, some
have only three or four claws — indicated
it was a court robe.
The condition needed to be inspected.
Originally the gold was couched to the
blue silk with stitches that blended into the
design, closely and tightly wrapping hand-
cut, gold leaf threads attached to paper
around a red silk thread inner core. The
couching was controlled and tight, the gold
of good quality with fine small, red stitches.
The client’s robe had been heavily restored,
albeit a quality job. The couching threads
used for restoration were white, clearly dif-
ferent than the original threads.
The quality of the client’s robe was excel-
lent. Both the profile and front facing drag-
ons —a quality point of its own, the front
facing dragon — were well defined, menac-
ing, both having a snout nose with whiskers
and black eyes. The robe was framed with
the back facing front. There were five visible
dragons, likely nine in total — nine drag-
ons, another quality point— with the ninth
embroidered on the front inside left flap.
I communicated with a second scholar
to help me understand the symbols on the
robe. She wrote, “rank, longevity and bless-
ings are the symbols you see in dragon
robes … and eight Buddhist symbols.”
Some robes have all the imperial sym-
bols, for imperial use not just court use,
a definite quality distinction. The layout
of the design was typical of dragon robes
with the lishui stripe on the bottom, then
crashing and rolling waves, mountains,
and auspicious signs and lucky symbols;
a toggle and loop closure curing to the
right; and horse hoof sleeve extensions, the
curving and the style of the sleeve being
another quality characteristic.
Rarity was the most important character-
istic of all. And the client’s blue silk, heavily
embroidered gold five-claw dragon robe was
“a great example of this type, but many of
them survive. It is the most common,” wrote
the scholar of Qing dynasty textiles.
After discovering all this information, I
needed to find a comparable in the market-
place. I checked auction records and wrote
to dealers that advertised dragon robes. I
discovered blue robes lined in fur, which
are among the more valuable, some without
the sleeve extensions, one with four claws
and others with eight dragons or done with
additional techniques like colored silk floss
embroidery. One robe had all the imperial
symbols in gold and although blue, was for
imperial use; it had a sky-high value. Many
were in poor condition, the gold threads
loose or simply no longer there. I found two
similar robes offered for sale with less gold
couching.
I corresponded with the dealer that the
robe had been purchased from and asked
if a similar robe had been sold recently.
The reply was yes, and there was my most
important comparable. Auction records and
asking prices for simply blue dragon robes
varied from $2,000 to $100,000.
Without learning about condition, quality
and rarity, the gap in values was daunting.
I needed my due diligence of corresponding
with the different scholars to distinguish
among the robes; I had performed my job.
Contributing columnist Cynthia Shaver
has been an appraiser of Asian art for
more than 20 years.