Chinese Ladies Silk Jacket (c. 1890)

Chinese navy blue silk short jacket with floral embroidery. The jacket is front buttoned with black piping and buttons and wide sleeves. The applied round collar band is black silk embroidered with pink and blue flowers and green foliage. Large peonies are embroidered in white, pink and red satin stitches, embroidered in front and back. There are also melons on vines with plum blossom. The dominant features are the beautiful wide sleeve bands. Each sleeve band is a combination of black and peach silks. The smaller band has similar floral embroidery as the neck collar. The peach band is decorated with a variety of flowers and butterflies done in satin stitch and in bright colors. The flowers include chrysanthemums and plum blossoms. A non-floral item is a double gourd in blue silk with red cross stitching that is eye catching. The edges of the jacket is trimmed with the black silk bands with pink and blue flowers, green leaves and blue endless knots. The embroidered decorations of the j