Late 19th or early 20th century antique Qing Dynasty Chinese robe. The classic side fastening robe for an affluent woman is silk damask accented with elaborate embroidered panels on a rich blue and black silk ground. The silk panels are finely hand embroidered with intricate embroidery in tiny silk floss stitching depicting birds in flight amongst exotic foliage. The robe is backed with hand woven pale blue silk backing that is hand sewn. In good condition. Measures 40 inches in length and 50 inches across from arm to arm. The antique textile is in very good condition and it appears was rarely if ever worn. From the estate of Dr. J. Ward Hall, dentist to the Chinese Imperial Family, personal dentist to the Emperor of China. Antique textile will include photos taken in the 1880's showing the interior of Dr. Hall's Shanghai residence with his collection of Chinese textile on the wall and porcelain. Chinese robe will also include original Jordan family note cards, with the Jordan family crest.

Dr. James Ward Hall (1849-1908) graduated Missouri Dental College in 1876 and was named professor of surgical and operative dentistry in 1878 - Worlds Columbia Dental Congress. At the solicitation of a friend, he moved to Shanghai, China in 1878 and began a lucrative dental practice becoming dentist to the Emperor of China. Dr. J. Ward Hall resided in Shanghai for the rest of his life, some thirty years. And in the ensuing years amassed an impressive collection of Chinese antiques, some possibly gifts from the Chinese Imperial Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908). Dr. Hall beautifully displayed the collection throughout his Shanghai residence.

In a May 16, 1907 letter Thomas Barbour of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University recounts being introduced to the American dentist Dr. Ward Hall in his 1913 book “Letters Written While On A Collecting Trip in the East Indies. He describes Dr. Ward Hall asÂ…Â… a collector of old Chinese things and I never saw or imagined anything so filled to overflowing with attractive things as his house is. He has in one room a screen over fifteen feet high of dark wood heavily and magnificently carved with dragons, birds, clouds, bats, flowers, etc. and panels of mosaic silk, which looked like the finest embroidery. This came from an old emperorÂ’s palace.” Barbour goes on to describe the collectionÂ….. of old China and porcelain, bronze incense burners and oil vesselsÂ…..He has been years and years collecting them.”

After his death in 1908, Dr. HallÂ’s sister Mrs. Clifford Hall Jordan of Chicago inherited much of the collection. She and her husband Scott Jordan, president of C. H. Jordan & Co., Funeral Directors, (a firm established in 1854 that handled arrangements when Abraham LincolnÂ’s body was brought to Chicago in 1865), displayed the collection of fine Chinese antiquities in their gilded age stone mansion in the Edgewater neighborhood on Lake Michigan in Chicago. The collection was passed down to their only child, W. Beaumont Jordan (1898-1973) and then on to his family descendants. Hall and Jordan family members emigrated from England to Massachusetts in the 1600Â’s, eventually settling in Piqua, Ohio.

Additional photos showing the interior of Dr. J. Ward Hall's home in Shanghai along with in depth background history are available and posted on the Myers Auction Gallery website catalog for the item.