The case of the auspicious longpao : from the Sophia Jobim Collection to the National Historical Museum

Barreto, Rodrigo (author), Oliveira, Madson (author)

This article presents the historical context and cultural biography of item 019.367, the longpao (龙袍, lit. “dragon robe”) of the category jifu (吉服, “auspicious attire” or “fes­tive attire”), from the Sophia Jobim Collection (CSJ) of the National Historical Museum (MHN). The study develops two lines of argumentation. The first section introduces the figure of Maria Sophia Jobim Magno de Carvalho (1904–1968) and situates her collect­ing practices in relation to the artefact under examination, privileging a structured debate grounded in historical research across both primary and secondary sources pertinent to the object in question. In addition, we use the critical theory of Edward Said’s Oriental­ism, which illuminates how such practices shaped the modes of documenting Chinese costume within Brazilian museum contexts. The second section highlights a bibliograph­ical review of item 019.367, identified as a Qing dynasty article of clothing, incorporating the results of a sustained visual and stylistic examination of the robe itself. Finally, we propose a revised cataloguing of the garment preserved in situ at the MHN, contrasting it with the bibliographic framework previously employed by the institution. The conclu­sion underscores the necessity of critically reinscribing both the object and its catalogic record into the museum’s expographic narrative, in the pursuit of a museography that is methodologically rigorous, ethically reflexive, and responsive to intercultural dialogue throughout Latin America.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Chinese clothing, cultural biography, National Historical Museum (MHN), Orientalism, Sophia Jobim Collection (CSJ)
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 319-357
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-190563
• ISSN on article: 2232-5131
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2026.14.2.319-357
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies = Azijske študije
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Primer srečenosnega oblačila longpao : iz zbirke Sophie Jobim v Narodni zgo­dovinski muzej

Abstract

Prispevek predstavi zgodovinski kontekst in kulturno biografijo oblačila longpao (龙袍, »zmajevo oblačilo«) s številko 019.367 iz zbirke Sofije Jobim (CSJ) v Narodnem zgodo­vinskem muzeju (MHN) v Braziliji. Oblačilo spada v kategorijo jifu (吉服, »srečenosno« ali »praznično oblačilo«). Študija razvije dve liniji argumentacije. V prvem delu predsta­vi Mario Sophio Jobim Magno de Carvalho (1904–1968) ter njene zbirateljske prakse umesti v odnosu do preučevanega predmeta, pri čemer daje prednost strukturirani razpra­vi, ki temelji na zgodovinskih raziskavah primarnih in sekundarnih virov, pomembnih za obravnavani predmet. Avtorja s kritično teorijo Saidovega orientalizma pojasnita, kako so te prakse oblikovale načine dokumentiranja kitajskih oblačil v kontekstu brazilskih mu­zejev. V drugem delu je predstavljen bibliografski pregled predmeta s številko 019.367, identificiranega kot oblačilo dinastije Qing, ki vključuje vizualne in slogovne analize. V zadnjem delu avtorja predlagata revidirano katalogizacijo oblačila, hranjenega v MHN, in jo primerjata z bibliografskim okvirom, ki ga je prej uporabljala institucija. Zaključek poudarja nujnost kritičnega ponovnega vpisa predmeta in njegovega kataložnega zapisa v muzejsko ekspografsko naracijo, v prizadevanju za muzeografijo, ki je metodološko stroga, etično refleksivna in odzivna na medkulturni dialog v Latinski Ameriki.

• Keywords: kitajska oblačila, kulturna biografija, Narodni zgodovinski muzej (MHN), orientalizem, zbirka Sophie Jobim (CSJ)