A Fashionable Century

One of a set of five hanging scrolls depicting the mid-Qing Manchu emperor-to-be at leisure, accompanied by four women dressed in both Manchu and Han styles. “Yinzhen Enjoying Pleasures” (Yinzhen xingle tuzhou), ca. 1708. Color on silk, H 157 cm, W 71 cm. Palace Museum (0006440). Photograph by Ping Hui.

An anonymous family portrait of the Daoguang emperor and his third wife, Empress Xiaoquancheng, alongside consorts and children. Autumn’s Overflowing Happiness Courtyard (Xiyi qiuting tuzhou), nineteenth century. Ink and color on paper, L 181 cm, W 202.5 cm. Palace Museum. Photograph by Hu Chui.

An anonymous portrait of Empress Xiaoquncheng and her daughter. Empress Xiaoquncheng in Informal Dress (Xiaoquancheng huanghou bianzhuang xiangzhou), Daoguang period (1821–50), before 1840. Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 177 × 96.5 cm. Palace Museum (GU 6582). Photograph by Liu Mingjie.

A well-stocked silk shop, Dazhang’s Silk Damasks, Gauzes, Crepes, Camlets, Cocoon Silk Trade and Retail (Dazhang Hao Lingluo Zhousha Yusha Jianchou Yeke), from a watercolor album of Canton shops, ca. 1825. Gouache on English watercolour paper, 27.9 × 36.8 cm. Peabody Essex Museum (E80607.19). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. Rionda Braga, 1977.

A popular print of A Beauty Sewing (Meiren caifeng tu), with pattern book, scissors, and other tools on the table, Mid-Qing. 41.2 × 25.8 cm. Reprinted from Feng Jicai, Zhongguo muban nianhua jicheng, Taohuawu juan shang, 103, with permission from the Zhonghua Book Company.

Embroidering the Rank Badges (Xiu bufu), one of a pair of Yangliuqing woodblock prints, Guangxu period. 61 × 26 cm. China National Art Museum.

Woman’s shan-style jacket in bright green silk, trimmed in white embroidered silk borders and embroidered with roundels of assorted scenes, including military romances. China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou (0057).

Roundel detail from a woman’s jacket showing a sparring male and female couple wearing theatrical costume. Alex Bass Collection.

An antique-motif embroidered silk informal robe, tomb of Princess Rongxian. L 147 cm, W 161 cm. Chifeng Museum. Reprinted from Qin Bo, “Chifeng bowuguan cang san jian gongzhu paofu,” with permission from the author.

Black satin woman’s jacket, with roundel scenes from The Romance of the Western Chamber, embroidered in polychrome, gold, and silver thread and enhanced with painted pigments. L 94.5 cm, W 164 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Art (RBL 51.424). Bequest of Margaret McMillan Weber in memory of her mother Katherine Kittridge McMillan. Photograph by Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Roundel detail, “Returning home in brocade clothes,” from woman’s jacket with roundel scenes from The Romance of the Western Chamber, embroidered in polychrome, gold, and silver thread and enhanced with painted pigments. L 94.5 cm, W 164 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Art (RBL 51.424). Bequest of Margaret McMillan Weber in memory of her mother Katherine Kittridge McMillan. Photograph by Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Scottish photographer John Thomson has positioned these two women to show off their contrasting hairstyles and garments. “Tartar Lady and Maid,” from Through China with a Camera, 420.