Chinese Coral Enamel Kingfisher Set

Eye candy... that's what I call this set ... the brilliant blue of kingfisher feathers is a perfect contrast for the tube of coral seed beads... a medium salmon red.

 

I had a dear friend of mine, a professional bead artist, examine this necklace to explain how is was constructed. He says the coral was needle woven with a tubular 'peyote' stitch (also know as a gourd stitch). This stitch was named 'peyote' in the U.S. in the late 19th century because it was often used by Native Americans ...research shows this stitch was also used in Africa and Guatemala... so while none of the resources that I checked mentioned China ... it is pretty obvious from this piece that it was used there... if anyone knows what it is named in China, I would love to hear from you.

Ornaments like these one were worn by women in the Mandarin Court and were symbols of wealth and status. Costly materials ... the coral imported from Italy, the rare feathers... the intensive labor, all combine to make this fragile beauty as rare and desirable as it was 150 years ago.

 

[adapted with screw back findings c.1920]

Eiberhard comments in the Dictionary of Chinese Symbols, 1986: "Chinese are people of the eye." This set is a wonderful example.

Visit PrivateCollection's PictureBook to see additional photos.

Centuries of Chinese Silver-Republished

A year ago, I was asked to write an article for the Canadian Magazine Jewellery Business. "Centuries of Chinese Silver" appeared in their February 2007 edition. We have created a version of the article in the PictureBook section of the site to make it easier for readers to reference it.

 

The original article is still available on line.  It was great working with the folks there and I hope you enjoy the article!

Chinese Kingfisher Set

My last post was about the beauty of Chinese enamels. For thousands of years Chinese artisans found another way to add colour to their metal ornaments without enameling. The art; tian-tsui (“dotting with kingfishers”) utilized the iridescent blue feathers of the Kingfisher as an inlay for ornaments ranging from large decorative screens to the small pieces of jewelry  featured here.

My collection focuses on late 19th and early 20th century pieces. Early pieces of Kingfisher jewelry use only the blue feathers... as seen in these photos the later pieces incorporate feathers of other vibrant colours...

The kingfisher was highly prized for its brilliant plumage... a small bird... slightly larger than a sparrow...  the demand for feathers almost brought these birds to extinction and by 1930 all the workshops producing this jewelry had closed.

... these pieces mix the blue with red, green and purple feathers ... I'm not sure if this mix of colours was because of the scarcity of the feathers or a new artistic style.

Chinese artisans painstakingly glued small clippings of feathers to gold, silver or brass ornaments.

     

Please.. never try to clean these pieces. They are quite delicate and fragile ...very difficult to restore.

For more information on this fascinating art form see  "Kingfisher Blue: Treasures of an Ancient Chinese Art", Beverley Jackson, Ten Speed Press.

Visit PrivateCollection's PictureBook to see additional photos.