1895 - 1896 Chinese American Man's Gown
date: label: date made
content: ca 1896
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Lee B. Lok (1869-1942) immigrated to San Francisco from Guangdong Province, China in 1881 and soon after moved to New York City's Chinatown where he worked in the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Lee B. Lok ordered this gown from China to wear at the 1896 arrival ceremony in New York of Li Hongzhang, emissary of the Empress Dowager of China. Soon after Lee came to America he abandoned Chinese clothes for daily use and cut his queue. However on special occasions Lee wore clothing that identified him as Chinese. This Manchu style gown splits at the back, front, and both sides to allow for easy movement on horseback – a reflection of the Manchu people’s equestrian background.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: China
label: worn
content: United States: New York, Manhattan, Chinatown
topic: label: referenced
content: Immigration
label: referenced
content: Immigrants
label: used
content: Chinese Americans
label: related event
content: Li Hongzhang visit to New York
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
label: See more items in
content: Family & Social Life
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
label: See more items in
content: Transcontinental Railroad
label: See more items in
content: Chinese American
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Mead, Virginia Lee. Lee Chinese -American Family Papers, ca. 1915-1970
label: Related Web Publication
content: https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0555
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of James Edgar Mead and Virginia Lee Mead
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1992.0620.24
label: catalog number
content: 1992.0620.24
label: accession number
content: 1992.0620
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gown, man's
label: Object Type
content: Man
label: Object Type
content: Main Dress
label: Object Type
content: Gown
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: satin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 72 cm x 131 cm; 28 3/8 in x 51 9/16 in