Grande Tenue de la Cour d’Annam (Official and Ceremonial Dresses of the Vietnamese Imperial Court)

Dated 1902, this historical album, Grande Tenue de la Cour d' Annam comprises a group of 54 exquisite paintings using gouaches and watercolours in well-preserved condition. Each folio is inscribed with captions by calligraphy in Sino-Vietnamese and French.Finely executed by Nguyen Van Nhan, the official Palace mandarin-painter of the last Nguyen Dynasty of Imperial Vietnam, in the 18th century. This collection gives an account of the official and ceremonial dresses and the hierarchical order of the social classes of the Imperial Court. Precious and rare, the album gives viewers an important peek into the last splendours of Vietnam’s Imperial past.