On loan
  • On short term loan out for exhibition

Hair Ornament

1850 - 1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This Japanese hairstick was used by a woman as a decorative hair ornament in a hairstyle that was put up. It is decorated with autumn plants and would have been worn during the autumn when such plants were in season.

Over the centuries, hairstyles and hair ornaments underwent considerable transformation in Japan. From roughly the twelfth to the late sixteenth centuries, it was customary for women to wear their hair long and loose without ornamentation. Thereafter hair was put up with increasingly elaborate hair ornaments. At first hair ornaments were mostly confined to women of the elite but, from the mid eighteenth century onwards, they were increasingly available to all strata of society. During the Edo period (1615-1868), women used a wide variety of combs (kushi), bodkins or hairpins (kanzashi) and hairpins (kogai) in a wide range of materials, such as wood, ivory and tortoiseshell, which were most commonly decorated with lacquer. Not only did the hairstyle and its ornaments reflected the age, social class and marital status of the woman, but the hair ornaments also reflected the individual’s taste.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver and black lacquer
Brief description
Hair ornament, silver with black lacquer decorated with autumn plants, Japanese, 1850-1900
Dimensions
  • Length: 16.62cm
  • Width: 3.32cm
  • Height: 0.15cm
Style
Gallery label
(29/02/2020)
In the Edo period, women wore elaborate, upswept hairstyles that were sectioned and held in place with paper strips, hairpins and combs of wood, lacquer or much coveted tortoiseshell. Courtesans had the most elaborate arrangements, with multiple hairpins and two combs. Often their hair spread high above the head.
Credit line
Given by Fumie Kosuge
Subject depicted
Summary
This Japanese hairstick was used by a woman as a decorative hair ornament in a hairstyle that was put up. It is decorated with autumn plants and would have been worn during the autumn when such plants were in season.

Over the centuries, hairstyles and hair ornaments underwent considerable transformation in Japan. From roughly the twelfth to the late sixteenth centuries, it was customary for women to wear their hair long and loose without ornamentation. Thereafter hair was put up with increasingly elaborate hair ornaments. At first hair ornaments were mostly confined to women of the elite but, from the mid eighteenth century onwards, they were increasingly available to all strata of society. During the Edo period (1615-1868), women used a wide variety of combs (kushi), bodkins or hairpins (kanzashi) and hairpins (kogai) in a wide range of materials, such as wood, ivory and tortoiseshell, which were most commonly decorated with lacquer. Not only did the hairstyle and its ornaments reflected the age, social class and marital status of the woman, but the hair ornaments also reflected the individual’s taste.
Bibliographic references
  • Jackson, Anna (editor), Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, London: V&A Publications, 2020
  • Rout, Josephine, Japanese Dress in Detail, London: Thames & Hudson, 2020
Collection
Accession number
FE.15-2002

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Record createdDecember 12, 2005
Record URL
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