SOLD Stunning 19th C Chinese Rank Badge Embroidery on SIlk, Framed as Found ducks in a row giving one or the other

giving one or the other the upper hand

The handwritten text below the drawing is a (translated) excerpt from a verse of "Auld Lang Syne" a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788:

this piece was purchased at an estate sale that included an excellent collection of 20th century ceramics from Japan

Oregon and addressed to a Mr

I've always got an eye peeled for beautiful antique sets of spillikins

SOLD Stunning 19th C Chinese Rank Badge Embroidery on SIlk, Framed as Found ducks in a row giving one or the otherI found this at Brimfield with a good bit of dust over the glass, but a few swipes with some Windex and this bird sings! The silk embroidery is a fine 19th century Chinese rank badge a fragment I presume, but I have not removed it from the frame. Rank badges (also called rank insignia or Mandarin squares) were used in China during the Ming (13681644) and Qing (16441911) dynasties to demonstrate the wearer's rank. There were several different birds