Rank Badge with Bats (no insignia)
This rank badge bears no rank insignia, that is, no bird or animal denoting the civil or military rank of the wearer. However, it does have a ring of bats encircling the empty space where the insignia belongs. In China bats were considered an auspicious pattern because the word for "bat" is similar in sound to the word for "happiness".
Artwork Details
- Title: Rank Badge with Bats (no insignia)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Culture: China
- Medium: Silk gauze embroidered with silk and metallic thread
- Dimensions: 8 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (21.59 x 23.50 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
- Credit Line: Gift of Alice Boney, 1955
- Object Number: 55.157.2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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first half 18th century
Accession Number: 1987.7
early 15th century
19th century
ca. 1330–32
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