Chinese
Pair of Hair Ornaments, 19th century
Jade, coral, cloisonné, metalwork, kingfisher feathers, 6.3 cm (2 1/2 in.)
This pair of small, intricate, matching Chinese hair ornaments are long and narrow. They are not quite identical. The design consists of a green-grey jade vase holding a thick bright orange branch of coral with a playful gold dolphin cavorting at the top. Gold filigree vines, curly springs, and leaves twine around the coral and the vase and end in an upside down crown-like base under the vase. The leaves are inlaid with iridescent, vivid, blue kingfisher feathers.
Little Salon
Commentary
In Beijing on October 6, 1883, Isabella visited a shop and noted, “Saw there wonderful decorations and jewels bought for bride, of stones, and king-fisher feathers.” It is very likely that she purchased this pair of hair ornaments and a pendant at this time. Objects decorated with the iridescent blue feathers of the kingfisher were highly prized in China for their exceptional color and sheen, and perhaps also because of the painstaking process of cutting and pasting the minute feathers.
Source: “Chinese Objects,” in Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia, edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 445-446.
Source: “Chinese Objects,” in Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia, edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 445-446.