Chinese Silk Collar Framed Late Qing/Republic

A Chinese black silk robe collar embroidered with lotus scrolls wraps around a central medallion.  The medallion is embroidered with a bird sitting in a bush.  The collar was stitched together to form a ring with the medallion filling the center.

 

Both sides of the collar are edged with a blue, brown and white brocade with shou characters. The inner brocade serves to outline the central medallion. The entire embroidery is framed with a thin frame of gilt wood. The cardboard back is held in place with tape. There is a braided wire for hanging and rubber bumpers on the back underside to prevent the frame from scraping the wall.

 

 

Framed - 15 ½” (39.4 cm) wide x 14 ¾” (37.5 cm) tall.

The collar is 9 ½” (24.1 cm) diameter.

Weighs 2 lbs 13 oz (1250 g)

 

 

The light blue in the embroideries appears to have moderate fading. I’m not sure just how much darker they were originally. The rest of the colors still look fairly bright and so it’s possible the pale blue was originally very pale. The threads to the embroideries are mostly tight, although a few are loose or frayed. The silk background shows very little wear. The framing is in very good condition, with only a small amount of wear to the gold frame.

 

Please note that any marks you see in the photos are reflections from the glass covering the front. I had a difficult time eliminating all reflections.