Black hand-embroidered silk Chinese jacket

Black hand-embroidered silk Chinese jacket LST32

Condition: Very good

Price: $165

Measurements
Bust: 36” maximum
Hip: 40” maximum
Length: 41”
Width from sleeve hem to sleeve hem: 50”
Label: none

Description
Wonderfully intricate silk hand embroidery covers this Chinese black silk jacket from the early 20th century. The black silk satin body of the jacket has embroidered designs of leaves and flowers and large circular embroidered sections with a lovely lady. The center front of the jacket, as well as the hem, sleeve hems and side slits, are all trimmed with ivory silk embroidered with more floral designs. The ivory sections are edged with gold silk, and the tiny knot closures are this same fabric. A 1930’s-looking 12-inch metal zipper was added sometime after the jacket was made, between the second knot closure and the fourth. This could easily be removed to return the jacket to its original state. The jacket is lined in tissue-thin black silk, which has stretched slightly at one sleeve opening, and shrunk a bit at the center back hem. Otherwise, the jacket is in very good condition, with a few light marks visible on the ivory sections, particularly on the sleeve cuffs (see close-up photo for the most significant). This jacket was most likely made for export to the Western market, where there was a demand for Asian-style “loungewear” textiles from the 1920’s on.