A 'heavenly horses' silk kesi panel


Circa 1700The panel boldly woven in multi-coloured threads depicting two confronted heavenly horses enclosing a ruyi motif and galloping amidst vaporous clouds and billowing waves, the hemline suspending 18th century multi-coloured tassels within a later brocade mount.51cm (20 in) and 46.5cm (18 2/8in) high.
|This panel would have been part of a kesi cover which protected the chairs while not in use. During the 18th century, the cover was probably sent as a tribute from the Chinese Court to a monastery in Tibet, where the present panel was cut to decorate the apron worn during the performance of religious dances. Compare with a kesi chair cover, 17th century, illustrated by R.D.Jacobson in Imperial Silks: Ch'ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol.2, Minneapolis, 2000, p.891, no.438. Also compare with a related kesi panel, 17th century, which was sold at Christie's London, 13 March 2011, lot 1199.