A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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Comments
Very nice. I would think that apart even from its beauty and age it can very easily be worn too, right?
this is a clip for a bun so it has a attachment to the back that keeps it in.
Can the clip also be used to wear it on the body otherwise?
No , it is not a brooch but a hair clip so it only is used in the hair. It has a back pin type that is quite normal for a hair clip.
Right - I understand. It's very beautiful.
What is strange about it is that it's in a few metals and not all silver.. I'm wondering if in fact this would have been plated in gold and it's worn off? I have never seen one like this before.. it's marked China and usually that means it was done in the Republic period so perhaps being that it is later they made them like this. It is quite a nice wearable and it's very inexpensive.
Yes, if it is marked "China" that indicates its date. On the photo, it seemed superficially like possibly silver gilt to me, but rather too brown for that - so another possibility that occurred to me was that it was made of a different metal yet gilded. I just could not work it out, and gave up! You are in a far better position to judge, and "a few metals" is intriguing. I in any case, however it was achieved, think the colouring is quite beautiful - not in any "normal" sort of way. The Chinese are, we have agreed before, ultra sophisticated in the way they use metals, so the maker would have known what he (and it would have been a "he") was doing. The overall effect is very sophisticated and everything is beautifully put together. I even find myself wondering whether the brown colour was perhaps fully intended from the start. Quite an unusual item, in my experience. And very beautiful.