When this quilt was made, in the early twentieth century, American popular culture commonly featured Chinese imagery—both authentic and exoticized. This quilt’s scaly dragon immediately marks it as a novelty. The dragon has feet with five claws, just like the one on China's Qing Dynasty Imperial flag. Lesser Chinese royal officials could wear four- and three-clawed dragons on their robes, but only the emperor, his sons and high officials displayed the five-clawed dragon. In Chinese mythology, the dragon is a cosmic force that brings rain, thunder and lightning. For this reason, dragons traditionally represented the strength and splendor of the Chinese emperor