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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Chinese Dragon Rank Badge Apron and Tea Towel Set
61.95 USD
Art-inspired gifts for the home. The motif featured on our apron and tea towel nods to a Chinese rank badge made in the 18th-19th century during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Spectacularly embroidered rank badges were worn by government officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties; badges with birds indicated a civil official while animals such as the tiger were reserved for military officers, and each creature corresponded to a specific rank. In this example, a ferocious dragon with deer hooves hovers amid swirling clouds over a raging sea. Typically, the dragon was associated with the imperial family, with specific features such as the number of claws indicating the status of the wearer.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Lyon Floral Apron and Tea Towel Set
61.95 USD
Art-inspired gifts for the home. The sumptuous floral motif featured in this set comes from a striking silk piece in The Met's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection. Undulating vines bearing colorful blooms reach along the Museum's woven textile, which was produced at the manufactory Bouvard, Burel et Cie in Lyon, France, around the year 1860. The pairing of golden details with a rich crimson background is evocative of Renaissance silks, though the naturalism with which the flowers are rendered exemplifies a level of detail achieved by way of modern 19th-century developments in machine weaving.