This beautifully illustrated volume is devoted entirely to The Art Institute of Chicago's exceptional holdings of Chinese textiles. Richly illustrated with color reproductions, it showcases approximately 80 important objects (including court robes, priestly vestments, and furnishing textiles for imperial palaces) dating from the 17th to the early 20th century. A main essay surveys the entire collection, and a complete checklist incorporates full technical data on each piece and offers brief entries on individual works. It also includes an essay exploring the history of Chinese-textile collecting in Chicago. Contributors include Chinese-textiles expert John E. Vollmer, and Art Institute of Chicago curators Elinor Pearlstein and Christa C. Mayer Thurman. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Clothed to Rule the Universe: Ming to Qing Dynasty Textiles at the Art Institute of Chicago

Arts & Photography

Vollmer, John E.

History & Criticism

Univ of Washington Pr

This text showcases important 80 objects from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Essays survey the entire collection and explore the history of Chinese textile collecting in Chicago.

Clothed to Rule the Universe: Ming and Qing Dynasty Textiles at the Art Institute of Chicago (Museum Studies)

Pearlstein, Elinor

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Art Institute of Chicago

Book by Vollmer, John E., Keall, E. J., Nagal-Berthrong, E.

Silk Roads, China Ships: An Exhibition of East-West Trade

Keall, E. J.

Nagal-Berthrong, E.

Royal Ontario Museum

In this sumptuous volume, John Vollmer and Jacqueline Simcox showcase 72 objects focused on the emperors of China from the Mactaggart Art Collection at the University of Alberta Museums, one of the foremost collections of Chinese paintings and textiles in the world. Full-color images and informative text introduce both the works from the collection and how they served as emblems of imperial order and power during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911). Students, collectors, museum visitors, scholars, historians, and individuals interested in Chinese art will be stirred by the sensuous interplay of hierarchy and design of the painted and textile arts of the Chinese Imperial court, as explored and illuminated in this book.

Emblems of Empire: Selections from the Mactaggart Art Collection

Simcox, Jacqueline

University of Alberta Press

Art takes many forms. In this selection of Asian court attire, dating from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), the phrase "you are what you wear" resonates. Vollmer journeys back to the thirteenth-century Chinese Empire, where ancestors of the ruling Manchu conquerors dressed fittingly. These exquisite costumes remind us that royalty once set fashion standards the way that celebrities do today, but that these garments also promoted distinct national and political messages that helped keep a ruling minority in power for nearly three centuries. Dressed to Rule is a guide to the exhibit, of the same name, that appeared at the University of Alberta in 2007.

Dressed to Rule: 18th Century Court Attire in the Mactaggart Art Collection

History

Toward the end of nearly 2,000 years of imperial rule in China, the last dynasty, designated Qing, was led by the ethnically and culturally distinct Manchu people. The Manchu established a political organization using clothing fashioned after their nomadic roots to signify status and identity. Author John E. Vollmer details the characteristics of Manchu dynasty costume and its political, social, and cultural significance and influence in Chinese history. Included are descriptions of the various designs and symbology on the cloth, as well as diagrams illustrating garment-making technology and construction features, comprehensive notes, a bibliography, map, and chronology. A fascinating look at clothing and its strategic role in the politics of conquest, this book is an invaluable resource for scholars and collectors alike. Illustrated throughout, including private collection pieces photographed for the first time.

Ruling from the Dragon Throne: Costume of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Ten Speed Press+

SILKS FOR THRONES AND ALTARS presents 77 Chinese textiles from the 14th through the 18th century, divided into three groups. The first group consists of clothing and furnishing fabrics made for and used by the ruling elite of China. Regardless of their dates or the ethnic origins of various dynastic rulers, these trappings of nobility served the political and social goals of those in power. The second group contains Chinese silks found beyond the borders of the empire, specifically in Tibet, Japan, and Western Europe. The presence of Chinese luxury in a foreign context, whether the result of commerce or diplomacy, affected local ideas of status and prestige. The last group presents textiles made for Taoist and Buddhist liturgical use. Within the Buddhist traditions of Tibet and Japan, secular textiles found new uses without losing the prestige with which they had originally been imbued. A catalog of ancient silks and robes from the collection of Myrna and Samuel Myers. Includes full-page color plates of all the pieces.

Silks for Thrones and Altars: Chinese Costumes and Textiles

Myrna Myers

Re-envisioning Japan is the first truly comprehensive book on Japanese export textiles of the Meiji period (1868–1912), featuring stunning examples from all over the country. Lavishly illustrated, the book features fabrics that explore the craftsmanship and remarkable talent of Meiji artists and artisans who produced goods for export markets. The makers of Meiji textiles sought to modernize traditional modes of visual representation, aspiring to create “paintings in silk thread,” at times even replicating specific Western paintings. More often, they collaborated with contemporary Japanese painters to create dazzling new images that more than ever before realized the aesthetic potential of silk thread as an artistic medium. This book showcases these spectacular ornamental textiles in dazzling color reproductions and many close-up details.

Re-envisioning Japan: Meiji Fine Art Textiles

5 Continents Editions

Decoding Dragons: Status Garments in Ch'Ing Dynasty China

Reference

Museum of Art, University of Oregon

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