A large and unusual Chinese silkwork dragon pennant, 19th Century, of triangular shape with jagged edges, finely worked in gold and coloured threads against a rich red ground with a wrythen dragon in flight chasing a flaming pearl amid ruyi shaped clouds, the border with auspicious objects, approximately 460cm long x 400cm at the widest point. Footnote: By repute, this pennant was captured by Field Marshal Alfred Graf von Waldersee during the Boxer rebellion in circa 1900. On the out-break of the Boxer Rebellion in Beijing, Count von Waldersee was appointed Supreme Commander of the joint expeditionary force of Western nations sent to relieve the besieged foreign legations in Beijing. Contemporary prints depicting battle scenes of the uprising show similar pennants held by horsemen and also flying from pavilions.