Chinese Dragon Design
Date
1920-1950
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
Design (A3) in three parts
Creator
Scope and content
Watercolour and pencil on paper, design, probably for needlework, showing a five toed Chinese Dragon. In shades of purple, blue green and red. The colouring is unfinished and may have just been to show possible colouration to the embroiderers.
Originally five-clawed dragons were reserved for the Emperor and his very close male relatives but by the end of the Qing period in the nineteenth century these regulations were often overlooked and anyone wore the dragon with five claws regardless of rank. This design by the Royal School of Needlework's paintroom may have been inspired by surviving items from the nineteenth century rather than imperial objects. From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century the Royal School of Needlework (initially the Royal School of Art Needlework) was often inspired by items coming into Britain via colonial and trade networks including Chinese, Japanese and Indian artefacts, many of which formed part of their collection.
The dragon does not have wings (the power of flight in Chinese dragons was mythical not manual) and it has a characteristically serpent-like body covered in scales and with 4 legs each of which have 5 toes.
The design is coming apart across the fold lines into 3 sections
Originally five-clawed dragons were reserved for the Emperor and his very close male relatives but by the end of the Qing period in the nineteenth century these regulations were often overlooked and anyone wore the dragon with five claws regardless of rank. This design by the Royal School of Needlework's paintroom may have been inspired by surviving items from the nineteenth century rather than imperial objects. From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century the Royal School of Needlework (initially the Royal School of Art Needlework) was often inspired by items coming into Britain via colonial and trade networks including Chinese, Japanese and Indian artefacts, many of which formed part of their collection.
The dragon does not have wings (the power of flight in Chinese dragons was mythical not manual) and it has a characteristically serpent-like body covered in scales and with 4 legs each of which have 5 toes.
The design is coming apart across the fold lines into 3 sections
Reference code
D15/002
© Royal School of Needlework