Pair of Framed Chinese Embroidered Eighth Rank Badges Qing Dynasty

On offer is a matching pair of embroidered silk civil rank badge panels (known in Chinese as Buzi) in black lacquer frames. The panels feature borders of fret archaic key and are centered by the bird quail, the symbol of the eighth rank civil official in the court of Qing Dynasty. The golden bird was depicted perching on one leg on the li-shui rocks, surrounded by five large silver scrolling clouds and looking up to a full sun on the upper left corner. As a set, one has a slit in the middle and was originally placed in the front of the robe. The other one was designated to the back. Based on the sun's position, these were worn by the male official (instead of their spouse). The work is of period and high quality, embroidered entirely with meticulous couching stitch with thin and tight bundles of silk threads. The stitched knots are so fine that they created part of the texturized design themselves and appear to be forbidden knots. The composition, compared to many other badges from the same period, was bold and less fuzzy. The color palette was restricted largely to gold and silver, set on a black background; even the sun only shows a tint of red. These approaches rendered the panels a rather unusual somber appearance.