Manchu Woman's Semiformal Court Robe

The color and decoration of early eighteenth-century court robes were strictly regulated. The robes are distinguished by large dragons and the prominent mountain and spiral wave patterns of their hems. The mountains, clouds, waves, and dragons comprised a celestial landscape symbolic of universal order and the imperial court, which carried out the heavenly mandate on earth. Imperial dragon imagery was also standard in the designs of cuffs and collar bands of most court robes.