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Blue Satin Semi-Formal Robe
bat China
Blue Satin Semi-Formal Robe
Silk tapestry,
19th Century
Qing Dynasty
56 x 82 in.
Gift of Mrs. Jeanne D. Lissaur
1954: 52

Red bats and clouds are scattered across the robe in a rebus that means "vast happiness reaching heaven." If the characters of the first two words were replaced with characters that sound the same but have different meanings, the rebus would read "bats reaching the sky."

clouds

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