DescriptionThis "chuba" (aristocrat's robe) was converted from a Chinese velvet robe of the early seventeenth century—a common practice in Tibet. It is not possible in most cases to estimate the date of the making of a "chuba," as a Chinese robe might have been in a Tibetan collection for a long period before being retailored into a Tibetan garment.

 

The cut velvet is dark blue with patterned wefts of red, orange, green, blue (two shades), yellow, and white silks and with paired metal-wrapped silk yarns and silks wrapped with peacock (or Siamese fighting cock) filaments tied to its surface. It is something of a tour de force in weaving.

 

On one side of the robe is a single dragon holding a pearl in its claws; on the other side is a pair of facing dragons with a flaming pearl between their open mouths. They are set against a background of "five-color auspicious clouds" above rocky mountains rising from of the sea, where various Buddhist symbols appear among the waves.