Imperial Nobleman’s Semi-Formal Court Robe
Unknown Chinese, Chinese
Silk, cotton, brocade, and gold
Overall: 4.92 ft. (1.5 m)
Overall: 55 × 74 1/2 in. (139.7 × 189.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Robert L. Ripley, Class of 1939H
40.15.12584
Geography
Place Made: China, East Asia, Asia
Object Name
Clothing: Outerwear
Research Area
Asia
Not on view
Label
This robe was likely worn by a high-ranking official due to its blue color and the nine dragons embroidered on front and back. Fashion was a means of asserting one’s power and authority in Imperial China, and the design, color, and symbolic decoration of these robes were strictly regulated based on the wearer’s rank. The dragon was a key signifier of high social status—for example, only the emperor, empress, or empress dowager could wear yellow robes adorned with nine five-clawed dragons. This regulation remained in place until the late 1800s, when it was discarded amidst China’s ongoing political turmoil.
From the 2024 exhibition Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art, curated by Haely Chang, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art
Course History
History 72.04/Asian Societies, Cultures, & Languages 64.16, China to 1800, Yi Lu, Fall 2024
Art History 63.02, Why Are Museums...?, Mary Coffey, Spring 2026
Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 51.11, Religion 2.02, Religions of Vietnam, Sara Swenson, Winter 2025
Geography 3.01, Living with Nature, Coleen Fox, Winter 2025
Philosophy 50.18, Animal Minds, Tina Rosenqvist, Winter 2025
Religion 40.08, Fear & Loathing in Religion, MK Long, Winter 2025
Art History 63.02, Why Are Museums…?, Mary Coffey, Spring 2025
Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2025
Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Marco D'Angelo, Spring 2025
Religion 1.13, Sacred Movement, Robert Weiner, Spring 2025
Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 70.24, Asian American Art and Architecture, Sujin Eom, Spring 2025
College Course 26.01, What’s in Your Toolbox?, Casey Aldrich and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2025
Comparative Literature 55.03, Asian Societies, Culture, and Language 60.10, Eco-Fiction: Stories of Ghosts and Other Beings from Premodern China, Yiren Zheng, Fall 2025
Exhibition History
Attitude of Coexistence: Non-humans in East Asian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 2-October 4, 2025.
Provenance
Collected by Robert L. (born LeRoy Robert) Ripley (1890-1949), Mamaroneck, New York, early 20th century (The Ripley's Believe It or Not Collection); given to present collection, 1940.
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