A SILK KESI 'PEACH FESTIVAL' PANEL 19th centuryPROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NANCY HUGUSA SILK KESI 'PEACH FESTIVAL' PANEL19th centuryThe tall, rectangular panel with Shoulao and attendants standing atop a lofty terrace surrounded by towering pines and a fruiting peach tree, Xiwangmu arriving on a phoenix with attendants in tow, the other immortals approaching by rootwood raft or on foot, each bearing their respective attribute, the figures and landscape features finely depicted, lined with peach-colored cotton. 66 1/8 x 35 1/8in (168 x 89.2cm)十九世紀 緙絲蟠桃結掛屏Dr. David Hugus is a renowned collector of Chinese rank badges, and an international authority on the subject. Prior to embarking on this pursuit, Dr. Hugus served with honor in the United States military. During his numerous tours in Asia and elsewhere, he earned a Masters in Science and a doctorate degree in Operations Research Systems Analyst (ORSA) from the Naval Postgraduate School, as well as a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and other distinctions. Upon reading an article by Schuyler Cammann of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, Dr. Hugus discovered Chinese rank badges and took it upon himself to expand the canon of English-language scholarship on this topic. Since then, he has published Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank (2000, co-authored with Beverley Jackson) and Chinese Rank Badges: Symbols of Power, Wealth, and Intellect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (2022). Over the course of his scholarship, Dr. Hugus and his wife, Nancy, have develop a distinguished collection of Chinese rank badges, textiles, and other works of art.