Chinese Dragon Rank Badge Lacquer Tray

$128.00 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art-inspired gifts for the home. This eye-catching lacquer tray nods to a Chinese rank badge made in the 18th–19th century during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Spectacularly embroidered rank badges were worn by government officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties; badges with birds indicated a civil official while animals such as the tiger were reserved for military officers, and each creature corresponded to a specific rank. In this example, a ferocious dragon with deer hooves hovers amid swirling clouds over…