RECYCLING JADE 1

The birds in the tree



These miniature jade birds perching on the golden tree, were previously either haipin or button adornments for upper class Qing (1644-1912) ladies.

Thanks, Sit for the drawing of the tree.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, here comes Ratty...

What better way to ring in the Year of the Rat than with this gorgeously elaborate nephrite hairpin or is it a floral spray ?

I can't decide what this object should be and I can't imagine what the artist who invented this, (and I am sure it is reinvented and not its original setting) had in mind. If he meant it to be a hairpin its way too large. If a floral spray , how come it has a rat resting in the centre ?

Ahha ! he must have designed it with the Year of the Rat in mind! So he sat little white Ratty among a nephrite foliage, with a tiny bunch of red glass beads to brighten the effect.

I picked up this whimsical spray or hairpin at a local flea and the nephrite pieces estimated to be 100-300 years old. It is made up of 10 nephrite pieces of pierced and carved jade in shapes of butterfly, flowerpot, floral, figural with the little rat as a centrepiece.

Happy Lunar New Year of the Rat !