V&A T.43-1952, Embroidered robe, China (1770-1820)
Artifact Information
This embroidered robe may have been made from embroidered lengths originally intended to be tailored into a dress for a female member of the royal family. It was found that the robe might have been assembled at a much later date than when the dress lengths were made because the construction of the robe does not follow standard design and that the trims used on different parts of the robe suggest a latter-day intervention [1].
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK T.43.1952
Summary of results
Traditionally used Chinese dyes, pagoda tree buds had been identified as the dyeing sources of this Chinese court robe [2].
References
[1] https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O165096/robe-unknown/
[2] Jing Han, The Historical and chemical investigation of dyes in high status Chinese costume and textiles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911) PhD thesis, University of Glasgow February 2016.