BOXER REBELLION: IMPERIAL CHINESE ARMY BANNERS.

SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ACQUISITION FUND OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS OF SAN FRANCISCO. LOTS 3 TO 12.
BOXER REBELLION: IMPERIAL CHINESE ARMY BANNERS.
[China: c.1900-1901.]
Large red cotton military banner, triangular in shape. The blue cotton hoist 4000 x 3250 mm maximum length. With in-sewn Chinese characters in white reading "Qian si" (Fourth Front). A few tears, some creasing and light staining.
Provenance: Sergeant H.H.McCormick (gift to the de Young Museum).

WITH: A yellow cotton military banner in a triangular shape, fringed in red. 2450 x 2380 mm max. One face with sewn Chinese characters in black velvet, reading, "Xuanwumen nei, Youfang Hutong, Guanyin Temple (Inside Xuanwu Gate, Youfang Alley, Guanyin Temple), and the phrase "qi kai de sheng " (Victory the moment the banner is unfurled). On the reverse there is a constellation of 7 stars, each with a Chinese character reading, "may heaven manifest its power to protect the Great Qing Dynasty."
Provenance: Both banners, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

A fine pair of Chinese military banners likely recovered from the Siege of Peking, by an American soldier. The Temple banner is associated with a Temple force from Guanyin Temple in Xian Province, sent to support the Emperor's forces in Peking.