Cushion cover
date: label: Date
content: 18th century
label: Period
content: Qing dynasty, Qianlong reign
notes: label: Label
content: Thronelike chairs were appointed with elaborate cushions to make them more comfortable and to signal the sitter's status. The design here, consisting of nine five-clawed dragons, was one that only the emperor and his closest associates could use. Other motifs on the cushion symbolize good fortune and longevity. The Chinese name for the narcissus plant, for example, contains the word "immortal," and peaches are also emblems of immortality. Bats, a symbol of good fortune, fly among the brightly colored clouds.
label: Provenance
content: To 1915
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1915 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1915 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1915 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Reserved Textile List, R. 147, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Worshipping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits (June 17 to September 9, 2001)
label: Exhibition History
content: On Becoming Immortal (May 9, 1993 to August 15, 1994)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (May 9 to November 29, 1993)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Ceramics (March 15, 1982 to July 10, 1986)
label: Exhibition History
content: Bicentennial Exhibition: Chinese Art (December 5, 1975 to November 10, 1976)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: embroidering
label: Topic
content: couching (embroidering)
label: Topic
content: silk (fiber)
label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
label: Topic
content: Qianlong reign (1736 - 1796)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1915.296
objectType: label: Type
content: Costume and Textile
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Silk with embroidery in silk and metallic-wrapped threads
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 111 x 146.5 cm (43 11/16 x 57 11/16 in)