1895 - 1896 Chinese American Man's Gown
Object Details
- unknown
- Description (Brief)
- Lee B. Lok (1869-1942) immigrated to San Francisco from Guangdong Province, China in 1881 and soon after moved to New York City's Chinatown where he worked in the Quong Yuen Shing & Co. store.
- Lee B. Lok ordered this gown from China to wear at the 1896 arrival ceremony in New York of Li Hongzhang, emissary of the Empress Dowager of China. Soon after Lee came to America he abandoned Chinese clothes for daily use and cut his queue. However on special occasions Lee wore clothing that identified him as Chinese. This Manchu style gown splits at the back, front, and both sides to allow for easy movement on horseback – a reflection of the Manchu people’s equestrian background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of James Edgar Mead and Virginia Lee Mead
- ca 1896
- ID Number
- 1992.0620.24
- catalog number
- 1992.0620.24
- accession number
- 1992.0620
- Object Name
- gown, man's
- Object Type
- Man
- Main Dress
- Gown
- Physical Description
- silk (overall material)
- satin (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 72 cm x 131 cm; 28 3/8 in x 51 9/16 in
- place made
- China
- worn
- United States: New York, Manhattan, Chinatown
- Related Publication
- Mead, Virginia Lee. Lee Chinese -American Family Papers, ca. 1915-1970
- Related Web Publication
- https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0555
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Costume
- Family & Social Life
- Cultures & Communities
- Clothing & Accessories
- Transcontinental Railroad
- Chinese American
- National Museum of American History
- referenced
- Immigration
- Immigrants
- used
- Chinese Americans
- related event
- Li Hongzhang visit to New York
- Record ID
- nmah_1119989
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-936c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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