Court dress for an Imperial Prince, Longpao, embroidered in polychrome silk and gold metallic threads with 9 five-clawed dragons, on a brown silk satin ground;
The dragons move above the “Lishui” waves and rocks, four of them victorious on the front, back and shoulders, clasping the sacred pearl with their bodies;
The other four, in profile, are chasing the pearl, as is the ninth, hidden inside the robe; the background is finely embroidered with Buddhist emblems (some in Peking stitch) and clouds.

The brown color can be considered a shaded transformation of imperial yellow, hence its princely use;
Linda Wrigglesworth explains that the manuscript based on Huangchao Liqi Tushi, appears to have given members of the Imperial Family the choice of either blue or brown Court robes; brown was considered to be an of shade of yellow.

Reférence:
-Exhibition : « De la Chine Aux Arts décoratifs », Musée Des Arts Décoratifs, P17 N°9 Prince’s Ceremonial Gown ( Longpao ) Gift M Hugo 1971 Inv 42921A related one.
-« Imperial Wardrobe » Gary Dickinson & Linda Wrigglesworth London 1990 P 161.

Provenance: Collection Li Ai Vee ( 1932-2021 )Chalet Yu Lan ; born in Shanghai, painter, introduced to painting by her mother and student of Lin Fengmian and Lu Yifei in the 1950s. She then moved to Japan, where she painted bamboos on the gates of Hiroshima, then, in 1958, left China, settled in Switzerland and became a pupil of Zhang Daqian….