Chinese Rank Badge and Motifs Collage Tapestry

This wall art hanging collage features various Chinese decorative art patterns and motifs and a mandarin square or rank badge used in China dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1391–1526) and up to the Late Qing Dynasty (1662–1911). This collage of decorative ornament motifs used in China were taken from 19th century books by Albert (Auguste) Racinet (1825-1893), a French costume historian, painter, illustrator and author , and Welsh architect and designer, Owen Jones. Rank badges were embroidered on squares and worn by civil servants and military personnel. For the civil servants, the badges were usually birds, such as egrets, paradise flycatchers, golden & silver pheasants, mandarin ducks, wild geese, cranes, peacocks, orioles and quail. Military ranks included lions, tigers, bears, quiln (kirin in Japanese), rhinoceros, leopards, panthers and sea horses. In the top square we also see the bird (possibly a paradise flycatcher) looking at an orange-red disc which represented the emperor. It was common to have the animal or bird in the mandarin squares looking at this focal point of the disc representing reverence for the emperor. Below the rank badge square can be seen a motif representing the ocean, rocks and mountains and also peonies which were regarded as the king of flowers.