A RED-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK GAUZE 'DRAGON' SUMMER ROBE Second half of the 19th centuryPROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NANCY HUGUSA RED-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK GAUZE 'DRAGON' SUMMER ROBESecond half of the 19th centuryOf slender proportions, the vibrant vermillion-colored silk gauze richly embellished with nine dragons in couched gold threads each pursuing a flaming pearl, blue ruyi-form clouds and beribboned bajixiang floating between them, all above a roiling sea strewn with further 'Auspicious Emblems' and carp, and a wide band of lishui stripes, the sleeves and neck with bands of further dragons against a black gauze ground and strips of golden fabric woven with a 'prunus and cracked ice' pattern, lined with red silk.55 5/8 x 70in (141.3 x 177.8cm)十九世紀晚期 紅地緙絲雲龍紋吉服袍Provenance:Butterfield & Butterfield, San FranciscoDr. David Hugus is a renowned collector of Chinese rank badges, and an international authority on the subject. Prior to embarking on this pursuit, Dr. Hugus served with honor in the United States military. During his numerous tours in Asia and elsewhere, he earned a Masters in Science and a doctorate degree in Operations Research Systems Analyst (ORSA) from the Naval Postgraduate School, as well as a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and other distinctions. Upon reading an article by Schuyler Cammann of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, Dr. Hugus discovered Chinese rank badges and took it upon himself to expand the canon of English-language scholarship on this topic. Since then, he has published Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank (2000, co-authored with Beverley Jackson) and Chinese Rank Badges: Symbols of Power, Wealth, and Intellect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (2022). Over the course of his scholarship, Dr. Hugus and his wife, Nancy, have develop a distinguished collection of Chinese rank badges, textiles, and other works of art.