A blue-ground silk brocade 'dragon' panel, Late Ming dynasty | 明末 石青地金蟒紋錦

Geng Zhi Tang Collection.

耕織堂收藏

A superb example of gold woven jin brocade produced during the Ming dynasty, the present piece depicts a dragon playfully in pursuit of a flaming pearl. The development of techniques, along with stabilized social and economic conditions and the establishment of a centralized textile industry, resulted in the availability of fine silk productions during the period. Gold thread was woven into the fabrics, creating a dazzling visual effect that was favored by members of the imperial court as well as high-ranking officials. Due to the complexity and high labor costs involved in its production, along with the incorporation of precious materials to the textile, gold woven jin brocade became a luxurious and expensive commodity. Historical records from the Jiajing period indicate that a piece of woven gold satin was valued at three and a half taels of silver.

Compare an uncut dark-blue robe material with mang design, attributed to late Ming period, in the China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou, illustrated in Zhao Feng, Zhixiu zhenpin / Treasures in Silk, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 09.05; and a robe of the female general Qin Liangyu (1574?–1648) with a similar mang dragon design, from the Chongqing City Museum, Chongqing, illustrated in Dieter Kuhn ed., Chinese Silk, New Heaven & London, 2012, fig. 8.69, p. 422.