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Authentic antique Chinese Kingfisher feather, hardstone/amber, coral, silver and gilt silver hair jewelry ornament. Well over 100 years old. <br><br>
Measures 5 3/4inches long. <br>
Beautifully crafted hair ornament made of silver and gold washed silver and then set with the vibrant turquoise feathers of the Chinese kingfisher bird and highlighted with red stone (hardstones or amber or Peking glass) and coral.
Nearest to the bottom is a Classic Chinese urn/vase, set with a small coral stone. Above this, two plaited golden (gold washed silver) bars lead to an arrangement of flowers, one set with a large red stone (looks like amber, but we are not sure) and a butterfly. The flowers and butterfly are set on little wires, so that they do not fall on one flat plane, but have a 3 dimentional quality, as well as moving when the wearer moved her head. The ornament ends with a little spoon-like terminal, not used for scooping up snuff, but for cleaning the ears. <br> The beautiful workmanship can be seen also at the back, which glows gently from the antique gold and is almost more beautiful than the front. <br>
Condition is fair to good considering the delicacy of this item. There are naturally some losses to the feather, and one hardstone is missing from the flower on the left of the butterfly.
The craze for kingfisher jewellery and hair ornaments is supposed to have threatened these little birds almost to extinction during the 19th century. |
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