Hairpin
1880-1883 (made)
| Place of origin |
This remarkable hairpin would have certainly drawn attention to its wearer. Made from silver-gilt and U-shaped, it has ‘trembling’ ornaments of a bat, birds and flowers mounted on wire springs and decorated with kingfisher-feather inlay. From these are suspended netting and strings of imitation pearls with drop pendants in red glass. Fashioning head accessories with kingfisher feathers on precious metals is an ancient craft that is unique to China. The technique is known as diancui (‘dotting kingfisher feather’), referring to the painstaking process of cutting the feathers into tiny pieces and gluing them onto the shaped metal using animal adhesive.
'Trembling' hairpins decorated with kingfisher feathers were prized for their lightness and iridescent turquoise colour by women of the nobility and the wealthy merchant class during the 18th and 19th centuries. The V&A bought this eye-catching hairpin in 1883 from the International Colonial and Export Exhibition held in Amsterdam, when the use of feathers on women's hats and other garments were at the height of fashion in Europe and America.
'Trembling' hairpins decorated with kingfisher feathers were prized for their lightness and iridescent turquoise colour by women of the nobility and the wealthy merchant class during the 18th and 19th centuries. The V&A bought this eye-catching hairpin in 1883 from the International Colonial and Export Exhibition held in Amsterdam, when the use of feathers on women's hats and other garments were at the height of fashion in Europe and America.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver-gilt, kingfisher feather, imitation pearls, glass, silk thread |
| Brief description | Hairpin (buyao), horse-shoe shaped, silver-gilt decorated with kingfisher feather, with strings of imitation pearls and glass pendants, China, Qing dynasty, 1880-1883 |
| Physical description | Horse-shoe shaped hairpin made of silver-gilt with applied ornament representing bat, coin, paradise flycatcher, flower, bamboo and lingzhi fungus decorated with kingfisher feathers. Hanging down the back of the hairpin are strings of imitation pearls threaded by red silks. The imitation pearls are made of hollow glass beads, coated on the inside with essence d'orient in lacquer and the hollow then filled with wax for support. Each string has two stylised shou (longevity) characters decorated with kingfisher feathers and a red glass pendant. Stamped on the back of the pin is a maker's mark, Bao cheng 寶成 |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 寶成 (maker's mark stamped on the back of pin)
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| Object history | Purchased from the Imperial Chinese Commission, accessioned in 1883. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. Purchased from the Imperial Chinese Commission at the International Colonial and Export Exhibition held in Amsterdam in 1883. RF31245/1883 |
| Summary | This remarkable hairpin would have certainly drawn attention to its wearer. Made from silver-gilt and U-shaped, it has ‘trembling’ ornaments of a bat, birds and flowers mounted on wire springs and decorated with kingfisher-feather inlay. From these are suspended netting and strings of imitation pearls with drop pendants in red glass. Fashioning head accessories with kingfisher feathers on precious metals is an ancient craft that is unique to China. The technique is known as diancui (‘dotting kingfisher feather’), referring to the painstaking process of cutting the feathers into tiny pieces and gluing them onto the shaped metal using animal adhesive. 'Trembling' hairpins decorated with kingfisher feathers were prized for their lightness and iridescent turquoise colour by women of the nobility and the wealthy merchant class during the 18th and 19th centuries. The V&A bought this eye-catching hairpin in 1883 from the International Colonial and Export Exhibition held in Amsterdam, when the use of feathers on women's hats and other garments were at the height of fashion in Europe and America. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1238-1883 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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