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 exclusive and special crown!!! if they are good dragons, must be great to wear it.
It is surprisingly lighter in weight. I suspect it is made of chased tin. It is quite flexible. The resemble the costumes worn in Chinese theater productions or in Chinese New Year celebrations. But they are much higher quality than most parade costumes. I have tried to discover what Far Eastern region they might be from. My son made a trip to China a few years ago, but he does not remember leaving an antique jade pendant and these items in the guest bedroom.
The workmanship on all the pieces is very good. Too bad the guest did not have these items worked in gold ;)
This head gear, bracelet and earrings that I posted this morning apparently are Straits Chinese production, items which appear to be fairly common in their culture. I finally found similar or identical pieces on the internet. On ebay they are listed as Tibetan silver, but I will examine mine closer to see if they can be silver. I know that the Tibet silver is a plated zinc in any case.
The dragons face looks quite charming! To me it looks as if he were joyous, not at all dangerous. I got a bit into Chinese culture during the year I lived in Thailand, but that is long ago...
Yes, I think you are right. I have lived a lot of my life fairly near San Francisco, where China Town has the largest Chinese population outside China. Chinese New Year is a huge celebration for days in San Francisco. The parades are all led by a happy dragon dance. The children are as enchanted with those dragons as they are with dinosaurs. From the bit of searching the internet I have done recently on these pieces, I have read that Buddhism, particularly in Japan and parts of China, connects dragon symbols with the Buddha himself. There is also a historic figure or at least a legendary one called the dragon Prince, I suppose he would have worn a dragon crown????
In any case, this piece is almost certainly related to a long-standing ethnic tradition in ornamentation. The methods and materials as well as the motifs belong to the Straits Chinese. I found articles identical to the bracelet and the earrings, and necklaces that look very much like the crown in the photo above. So I think I can safely describe these items now as coming from that region, either through a guest or my son leaving them in a chest of drawers in the guest bedroom for years without my knowledge.