Monthly Archives: May 2008

Chinese Qing Dynasty Rank Purse

By Susan May 29, 2008

At first glance this appears to be a lovely elaborately embroidered ladies handbag, silk thread on silk cloth with Peking glass handles. There is an interesting story behind this elegant purse. During the Qing Dynasty officials wore badges sewn to their robes which indicated their rank and area of service. All military officials wore [...]

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Chinese White Jade Beads

By Susan May 20, 2008

My photographer had to spend a lot of time with these beads… they have a life and personality that changes with the time of day and light. He offered to buy them so that he wouldn’t have to photograph them anymore… I said “no!”. So he presented me with six different lighting and background [...]

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Chinese Ingenuity in Silver

By Susan May 7, 2008

As we looked at the list trying to decide what to write about next…it occurred to me that it made some sense to write about another Qilin to build on the information in the last 2 posts. This 1920’s bracelet is not only a great example of how a Qilin is used ornamentally but also the [...]