I found this one at Brimfield and it is quite an extraordinary and beautiful piece of work--a Chinese embroidery on silk, with gold metallic thread used for nearly the entirely of the two pairs of koi, making their fins and scales almost sculptural. (Just look at the detail photos of those scales, especially; phenomenal.) I am not an expert, but have looked at a fair bit of Chinese embroidery, and am pretty confident thinking this dates to earlier than the 19th century.) It took me a few minutes to realize it, but the koi, or carp here are actually hanging from what I believe are meant to be lanterns. Seems quite possibly a rank badge, but a very uncommon one; I can find no other featuring koi--so perhaps for an emperor! Found sandwiched between board and glass to keep it safe, and I can ship it that way, but it most definitely deserves a proper framing. Really quite spectacular.
Approximately 13 1/2" x 10 3/8" Some fraying to the blue silk ground and looseness to the applied woven silk edging along the sides, but stable, and with no notable loss to the embroidery itself. To be handled with care but not super fragile or falling apart.
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