Chinese Silver Coral Qilin Bracelet

The silver Qilin pendant in my last post is not the only use of this popular mythological figure in Chinese ornaments... the rank badges of high court officials would be embroidered with the Qilin, it appeared in all ornamental forms from paintings to paper lanterns.

  

This salmon coral carving of the Qilin is one of the rarer examples...likely a 19th century carving set c.1900-1930 as a bracelet...a custom setting ...one I have never seen before...features six Qilin in silver, repoussé carved and chased.

 

The mark is also informative: PEIPING CHINA SILVER BEE...

PEIPING is an older spelling of Peking; now Beijing. Very few pieces of Chinese jewelry identify the region in which the piece was made... here we have the place as well as the mark of the maker or workshop - BEE.

The field of Chinese export jewelry is a relatively new area for collectors ...there are no reference books...so collecting interesting marks like this one is almost as exciting as the rare coral carving.

Visit PrivateCollection's PictureBook to see additional photos... many in larger formats.

Chinese Silver Qilin and Bead Necklace

The Qilin ( pronounced "chee-lin") is a mythological creature ....one of the four mythological creatures that have been part of Chinese culture for many centuries. Sometimes it is referred to as the Chinese Unicorn ...it is always a symbol for good fortune in many forms.

c. 19th century, Qilin with figure carrying a fan, all silver, front repoussé chased detail, flat back.

The Qilin necklace could be worn by a young man wishing for good grades on his civil service examinations or worn by a wife hoping to give birth to many sons.  A smaller version might be worn by a child for protection. The Qilin also governed the west ...so it is connected with the ideas of maturity and fulfillment.

Traditionally, Chinese Silver ornaments such as this Qilin were worn simply with a heavy silver chain... the beads on this one were probably added some time during the 20th century to make the necklace more appealing to the western market.

At the time I purchased this, the old bead string was rotting and needed to be replaced. The beads themselves were so unusual and uncommon; translucent jade, melon carved silver, celadon carved with the Shou symbol, I made the decision to keep them together.

The Qilin pendants offered artisans who worked in silver an opportunity to express their creativity...you could probably spend a lifetime just collecting Qilins and never find two alike.

Visit PrivateCollection's PictureBook to see additional photos, many in a larger format.