Portrait of an Official

The color and material of the sphere in the hat finial indicates an official's rank.¹ An opaque blue hat knob indicates an official of the 4th rank.

You can see why I decided to portray an official in informal uniform instead of ceremonial or formal dress. ;-) It's much less work, lol. Hats for formal occasions have a hat spike instead of a hat knob,² and hat quills differentiated status according to color - blue quills for 6th rank and below, peacock quills for 5th rank and above,³ - and the number of 'eyes' in the peacock feathers.⁴ Formal uniform also required rank badges.⁵ The ceremonial⁶ necklace of 108 beads was worn by civil officials of 5th rank and higher, and military officers of 4th rank and above.⁷