A RARE PAIR OF IMPERIAL MIDNIGHT-BLUE-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK PURSES 19th century (2)A RARE PAIR OF IMPERIAL MIDNIGHT-BLUE-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK PURSES19th century Each shell-shaped ceremonial purse elegantly embroidered on each side with multiple branches issuing lingzhi fungi in vibrant blue thread, each pouch lined in Imperial yellow silk sealed at the neck and tied with a pair of silk deep blue cords and tapes with moonstone-coloured glass beads. 10.5cm (4 1/8in) wide (2).十九世紀 御製石青地繡靈芝紋荷包一對Silk pouches, such as the present pair, formed an essential part of the formal ceremonial costumes worn by the Qing emperors and the highest-ranking members of society. The present pair may have been paired to the blue ceremonial silk robe, chaofu, worn by the emperor for the performance of rites aimed at invoking rain and good harvest at the Altar of Heaven. See a similar pair of dark purses depicted in the Huangchao Liqi Tushi 皇朝禮器圖式 ('Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court'), edited in 1759, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Costumes and Accessories of the Qing Court, Shanghai, 2005, no.2.The Huangchao Liqi Tushi 皇朝禮器圖式 ('Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court'), edited in 1759, prescribed this type of purses to wear over formal court robes by suspending them from ceremonial belts, chaodai and Qing emperors frequently appeared in formal portraits wearing dark-blue purses, similarly shaped as the present pair; see the formal portrait of the Qianlong emperor by Giuseppe Castiglione, clad in a yellow-ground silk ceremonial outfit including a chaodai suspending a pair of dark-blue silk purses similarly shaped as the present examples; L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2000, p.47, pl.36. Drawstring purses affirm the nomadic origin of the Manchu, as they probably developed from carrying purses made of leather which often contained pieces of flint needed to strike a flame, fundamental to the Manchu way of life. As the Manchu settled in China, cases made for knife and compass were gradually replaced by cases made for fans, kerchief holders and other items suggesting the more leisurely and scholarly existence of the Chinese literati. Once established in China, the Manchu emperors often kept areca nuts in the purses, but also scented cotton and aromatic herbs.