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Chinese Decorative Designs Colouring Book

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Soft cover book with staple binding.  48 pages with 22 images to colour.  Colouring pages are blank on the back so they can be cut out and displayed. Size: 8½ x 11 in.

In a tradition practiced for hundreds of years, throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese military and civil officials wore large silk badges on the front and back of their robes. The embroidered or tapestry squares signified the individual’s rank based on the animal depicted. Civil officials’ badges featured one of nine birds, such as a crane, pheasant, or peacock, while military badges showed one of nine powerful animals—real or mythical—such as a lion, tiger, bear, or 
qilin. The mallow flower badge in this colouring book would have been worn by a civil official in the Sacred Music Department. The tapestry badge depicting phoenixes in a symbolic landscape may have been woven as a decorative insignia for a female member of the imperial household.

Also called buzi, or mandarin squares, the textiles are popular with collectors. Badges worn on the front may have been split down the centre to accommodate the opening of the robe. Tiny beads or pearls were sometimes used as ornamentation, and painted details may also be seen. While most badges illustrate existing animals, the presentation is not always lifelike. Ducks may or may not have webbed feet; flames shooting from the body of the bear denote supernatural powers.

Images
  1. Rank badge with wild goose, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century
  2. Rank badge with silver pheasant, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–1795)
  3. Rank badge with peacock, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 18th–early 19th century
  4. Rank badge with eastern egret, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), early 18th century
  5. Rank badge with crane, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 19th century
  6. Rank badge with dragon with deer hooves, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th–19th century
  7. Rank badge with peacock, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 19th century
  8. Rank badge with mandarin duck, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century
  9. Rank badge with leopard, wave, and sun motifs, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 18th century
  10. Rank badge with mandarin duck, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), early 18th century
  11. Rank badge with mythological animal, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), late 16th–early 17th century
  12. Rank badge with phoenixes, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), 16th century
  13. Rank badge with qilin, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 19th century
  14. Rank badge with mallow flower, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), early 19th century
  15. Rank badge with peacock, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century
  16. Rank badge with lion, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 19th century
  17. Rank badge with leopard, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 19th century
  18. Rank badge with pheasant, 19th century
  19. Rank badge with mandarin duck, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), early 18th century
  20. Rank badge with bear, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century
  21. Rank badge with tiger, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century
  22. Rank badge with lion, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), 15th century
Name:
Chinese Decorative Designs Colouring Book
Price:
GBP Sterling £ 5.99
Product Code:
KRS5392
Availability:
Delivery in three working days
Stock Level:
1
Available for delivery Available for collection only