Chinese Emperor’s Robes Ended up in Wiltshire

The BBC is currently running its interesting History of the World in 100 Objects project formed out of a partnership between the BBC, the British Museum and 350 others museums and institutions across the UK. I expect the academics will moan but it seems a good way to get people interested in history.  Obviously I can’t get the BBC in Shanghai but I would be interested how they’re going to cover China – the object they’ve selected is interesting and says a lot.

The object is an embroidered silk robe and sleeves which once belonged to the Emperor of China. It now resides in the rather obscure Museum of the Berkshire and Wiltshire Rifles in Salisbury, Wiltshire.  Therein of course lies a tale, not just about Chinese emperors, silk and all that but of course the problematic history of foreign intervention in China – the robe is in Wiltshire because Captain Henry Ely of the 99th Regiment – an early incarnation of the Wiltshire Regiment. In 1860 the 99th Regiment was part of the Lord Elgin expedition to China which proceeded to sack and loot Peking. Obviously Captain Henry did a bit of looting in the Imperial Palace and helped himself to an emperor’s robe which he brought back to Wiltshire. Silk robes being quite unsuitable for the Wiltshire weather he obviously gave it to his regiment’s museum.