MEDIA INFORMATION

 
 
 
COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.1987.147
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Costume and Jewelry
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Name-CRT:
Chinese
Title:
Chuba
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Back View
Creation Date:
Qing dynasty (1644-1911), 17th century
Creation Start Date:
1644
Creation End Date:
1699
Materials and Techniques:
Cut velvet with patterned wefts of multicolored silks, gold-wrapped silk, and peacock-feather filaments
Classification Term:
Textiles
Dimensions:
W. 55 in. (139.7 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
1987.147
Credit Line:
Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1987
Rights:
Context:

This 'chuba' (aristocrat's robe) was converted from a Chinese velvet robe of the early seventeenth century-a common practice in Tibet. It is not possible in most cases to estimate the date of the making of a 'chuba,' as a Chinese robe might have been in a Tibetan collection for a long period before being retailored into a Tibetan garment. The cut velvet is dark blue with patterned wefts of red, orange, green, blue (two shades), yellow, and white silks and with paired metal-wrapped silk yarns and silks wrapped with peacock (or Siamese fighting cock) filaments tied to its surface. It is something of a tour de force in weaving. On one side of the robe is a single dragon holding a pearl in its claws; on the other side is a pair of facing dragons with a flaming pearl between their open mouths. They are set against a background of 'five-color auspicious clouds' above rocky mountains rising from of the sea, where various Buddhist symbols appear among the waves.

Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.as1987.147.AV1.tif

Chuba

Chuba