Man's Audience Robe (Chaofu)
A chaofu, or audience robe, featuring a fully pleated skirt was the most formal type of men's court dress. Sumptuary regulations set in the mid-eighteenth century dictated that only the emperor and heir apparent could wear robes emblazoned with five-clawed dragons, but in the nineteenth century, these mandates were often overlooked. Blue-black audience robes were worn by Qing nobles, high-ranking civil and military officials, and imperial guards.
Artwork Details
- Title: Man's Audience Robe (Chaofu)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: second half of the 19th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Silk satin embroidered with silk and metallic thread
- Dimensions: 84 x 58 in. (213.4 x 147.3 cm)
- Classification: Costumes-Embroidered
- Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1935
- Object Number: 35.84.3
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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