Title
Silver hairpin with red and green stones (bird)
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Singapore
Material
Dimension
Object size: 2.7 x 8.2 x 2.5 cm
Accession No.
2016-00773
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Winson Tan in memory of the late Edward Tan TL
This is a silver hairpin in the shape of a bird made out of diamonds and red stones, possibly rubies. Birds are important images for Chinese art. Some birds were important status symbols as they represented different ranks in the imperial Ming and Qing courts. Hairpins like this would have been made for Peranakan women in the Straits Settlements to be worn as part of a wedding headdress. A Peranakan bride would tie her hair into a bun or sanggul and individual hairpins would have been stuck in to create a headdress. This hairpin is part of a set that comes from the collection of the family of prominent philanthropists and businessmen, Tan Kim Seng and Tan Jiak Kim.
