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Source Description
This magnificent robe for a Tibetan lama or an aristocrat was originally a Chinese imperial wall hanging. Tibetan tailors cut it into 60 separate units, reassembling the fabric for a completely new and bold design. The wearer of such a garment must have impressed bystanders by his striking appearance. What you see here is the robe’s back side.<br><br>Textiles played an important role in Chinese diplomacy with foreign governments. Diplomatic gifts of silk served to pacify border populations and to maintain balanced power relationships. Over centuries the Chinese court endeavored to keep a stable relationship with powerful Tibetan Buddhists. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) the Chinese court began to send gifts of court garments and furnishings to Tibet where they were altered to create Tibetan-style robes.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
165310
label
Tibetan Man's Robe, Chuba
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
165310
contentType
object
title
Tibetan Man's Robe, Chuba
description
This magnificent robe for a Tibetan lama or an aristocrat was originally a Chinese imperial wall hanging. Tibetan tailors cut it into 60 separate units, reassembling the fabric for a completely new and bold design. The wearer of such a garment must have impressed bystanders by his striking appearance. What you see here is the robe’s back side.<br><br>Textiles played an important role in Chinese diplomacy with foreign governments. Diplomatic gifts of silk served to pacify border populations and to maintain balanced power relationships. Over centuries the Chinese court endeavored to keep a stable relationship with powerful Tibetan Buddhists. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) the Chinese court began to send gifts of court garments and furnishings to Tibet where they were altered to create Tibetan-style robes.
date
late 1600s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79994079
genreSpecific
Garment
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
width across shoulders: 189.9 cm (74 3/4 in.); length back of neck to hem: 152.4 cm (60 in.)
cul
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Kangxi period (1662-1772)
accession
2007.216
Source extras
tec
Silk, gilt-metal thread of two kinds: satin weave with supplementary weft patterning
tombstone
Tibetan Man's Robe, Chuba, late 1600s. China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Kangxi period (1662-1772). Silk, gilt-metal thread of two kinds: satin weave with supplementary weft patterning; width across shoulders: 189.9 cm (74 3/4 in.); length back of neck to hem: 152.4 cm (60 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, 2007.216
collection
Textiles
didYouKnow
Large, splendid gold-thread phoenixes have pride of place on the front and back of the robe, complemented by two smaller but equally resplendent phoenixes below.
citations
citation
Vollmer, John, Thierry Prat, and Richard Sheppard. <em>Silks for Thrones and Altars: Chinese Costumes and Textiles : From the Liao through the Qing Dynasty</em>. Paris: Myrna Myers, 2003.
page_number
p. 92
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 367
citation
"New in the Galleries.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 58. no. 1 (January/February 2018): Back cover.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover.
citation
The Asian Art Newspaper. "The Splendor of Chinese Textiles: From the Silk Road to the Imperial Court." The Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 21, no. 6 (Summer 2018): 25.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 25
citation
Spee, Clarissa von. "From the SIlk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Arts of Asia</em> 48, no. 3(May-June 2018): 50–56.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 53, fig. 4
creditline
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:34:03.853000
sourceId
165310
dept
Textiles
coll
Textiles
med
Silk, gilt-metal thread of two kinds: satin weave with supplementary weft patterning
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a5a111540b00ce17