The Empire’s New Cloth: Cross-Cultural Textiles at the Qing Court

A lecture by Mei Mei Rado

In the early modern period, luxury textiles circulated globally as trade goods and diplomatic gifts, fostering cultural exchange between distant regions. By the eighteenth century, both China and Europe had developed a splendid tradition of silk and tapestry weaving. In her new book, The Empire’s New Cloth, Mei Mei Rado explores how Qing court workshops adapted European textile designs and techniques and uncovers the specific uses and meanings of these textiles in imperial military ceremonies, religious spaces, and palace interiors. While the role of Chinese silk imports in Europe has been well studied, this book reconstructs the forgotten history of the eastward movement of European textiles to China and their integration into the arts and culture of the Qing Empire.

February 19 at 6pm
38 West 86th Street, BGC Lecture Hall