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Woman's Bridal Dress, Dragon Jacket
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This three-piece bridal dress includes a dragon jacket, a pleated skirt, and a tabard, a short loose-fitting sleeveless vest. The ensemble reveals the high rank of her husband; it did not fall under the scope of the Qing dynasty sumptuary laws. The woman's bridal trousseau contains a short red coat fastened on the side and wide sleeves. It is decorated with ten dragons and other cosmological motifs commonly found on court dress. The presence of ten dragons indicates that the wife's husband was a high-ranking official.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineWoman's Bridal Dress, Dragon Jacket, 1800s. China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Silk, gilt-metal thread; embroidery; overall: 104.2 x 153 cm (41 x 60 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Elizabeth Wade Sedgwick, 2005.135.1
