Xiezhi Badge
According to myth, the fantastical animal xiezhi have an objective sense of right and wrong. In the court, it represented the imperial censor, who oversaw the ethical behavior of officials. This creature has a scaled deer body and a dragon head with one horn. Here the xiezhi is made from applique of colorful silk satin.
Julia St. Clair Krenz (1882-1971), by February 1936-April 1941 [1];
Purchased from Krenz by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1941.
NOTES:
[1] Julia St. Clair Krenz lived in China during several periods between 1919 and 1949. She worked at the American Legation in Peiping in various capacities, including as an accountant and clerk, and supplemented her income through the trade of Chinese objects. Krenz was best known for her collection of Chinese textiles, which was exhibited piecemeal at the Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts from 1931 to 1936. This object is one of approximately 400 textiles she placed on loan to the Nelson-Atkins in July 1936, shortly after her return from China earlier that year; it remained on loan until its purchase in 1941.
