香港大學美術博物館

Prized by Chinese and foreign merchants as an essential commodity along a vast trade network, silk served multiple roles throughout the ancient world: as fabric for garments, as a form of currency and method of tax payment, and as a medium and subject matter for professional artists and the literati class. Over the centuries, silk fabrics have remained synonymous with beauty and are entwined throughout Chinese art and literature. Extending from the Qing dynasty to the mid-20th century, UMAG’s silk textile collection encompasses a diverse range of subjects and formats that include hanging scrolls, framed panels, banners and robes. Each artwork exemplifies the sophisticated craftsmanship of the artisans and the collective stories of the Qing dynasty’s textile industry. 絲綢在龐大的貿易網絡中，一直是備受中外商旅追捧的商品。它在古代世界所扮演的角色極為豐富──絲綢既是一種紡織原料，亦是一種貨幣和用以賦稅之物，更是藝術家和文人的創作媒介和題材。多個世紀以來，絲綢是美的象徵，它與中國藝術和文學緊密交織。香港大學美術博物館所藏清代至二十世紀中葉的中國絲織物，題材豐富，形式多樣，包括立軸、掛屏、幡及龍袍等。每件織物既展現出工匠的鬼斧神工，亦訴說着清代紡織業的種種故事。

This publication accompanies an unprecedented exhibition highlighting four of the magnificent chinoiserie tapestries of Chinese Emperor Qianlong, woven after designs by François Boucher at the famous Beauvais manufactory from 1758–1760. The large and well-preserved textiles form part of the royal French commission by King Louis XV, objects of which were presented to Qianlong in 1766. These celebrated tapestries are joined by another historic set of culturally related depictions in print—The Battles of the Emperor of China. The engravings were ordered by Qianlong, drawn by Jesuit painters at the Imperial Court in Beijing and then printed in Paris 1769–1774. The ‘culture’ of these prints follows King Louis XIV’s influential images of the Histoire du Roi and presents Qianlong as both a war hero and as the undisputed leader of China in the mid-eighteenth century. These depictions date to the exact same time period, one that coincides with the high demand for chinoiserie in France—culmina