Tibetan Long Vest

Tibetan Chupa, or long coat. As part of the traditional dress of Tibet these are worn in the colder months, and the wealthier families had ones made of brocade and silk damask. The silk and gold and silver metallic thread brocade (lampas) on the body of this coat is worn in places showing the red base fabric and the pattern is most likely borrowed from Chinese silks, but appears to be of a more Central Asia origin. Lined with indigo blue cotton, the sides around the arm holes are of a more modern patterned silk fabric, and there is a thin piece of another brocade edging the slit at knee level. There is a similar coat in the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Probably mid 19th Century.