DRESS in blue silk embroidered with gold thread, decorated with dragons chasing the sacred pearl, among bats, flower boxes, auspicious motifs and clouds in the shape of a "lingzhi" mushroom, resting on a background of geometric motifs, the lower part decorated with foaming waves from which the sacred peaks emerge, chevrons and friezes of ruyi, the edges of the sleeves decorated with bats and butterflies among flowers on a background of beige silk. (Discolouration, wear, tears to the collar). China, late Qing dynasty (1644-1912). A GOLD EMBROIDERED BLUE SILK DRESS, CHINA, LATE QING DYNASTY. DIM. 132 X 137 CM (52 X 53 15/16 IN.)