Category Archives: Chinese Hair Pin

China: Ancient Combs of the World, by Kajetan Fiedorowicz

When the artist inside rules you, you climb mountains. Society judges you on your idiosyncrasies alone, unless you can communicate why you devoted your life to a love of something. With Kajetan Fiedorowicz, this love was for combs. I believe his artistic eye; his instincts that allow him to understand genius, in whatever condition it comes, from where ever it comes; his taste and class; and his passion for scholarship has made him one of the greatest comb collectors in the world. Hair combs are blessed because he fell in love with them.

He wanted his collection to be a comb museum, but tragedy and unimaginable heartbreak struck. Some scorned him. They tried to beat him. That’s when you know who your friends are. Others never wavered. “Never surrender,” he always said to me.

Today that strength of character triumphed. The KF Comb Research Project announced the prototype publication of “China: Ancient Combs of the World, Vol. IV.”

He said, “Very important for this vol. IV on ancient Chinese combs was to get it proof read and checked by someone educated and competent with this particular and very narrowly specialised subject matter. I was fortunate to get through to the best person, Miss Jing Yang, the senior researched in Palace Museum in Beijing,

“who is also an author of the best selling book on a history of Chinese combs and hair ornaments, pictured below.”

“It has been my honour and a privilege to receive a favourable opinion from such a prominent researcher. And her signature in my book prototype… how epic :) is that.”

“I also thank Wu Yi Shiuan for making this possible.” (Editors note: Wu Yi Shiuan is the founder and head of the Chinese Hairpin Museum)

Kajetan continues, “I’m pleased to report major progress with my books on ancient and ethnic combs of the world. As some of you may know, I’m working on a series of 5 volumes presenting (in pictures) the results of my long time research and collecting efforts, divided by cultural regions. The first test copies were printed and I’m in a process of fixing unavoidable errors.”

Perfect English grammar eludes us all, even those of us who think in English. However, you rarely find an uncompromising purist you can trust to identify every single piece correctly. That takes 30 years to do, and he’s done it. Only love could have produced the photographs in this book.

Kajetan, you changed my life with that Māori comb auction on E-bay. I wrote about you before knowing you existed, and amused you in the process. Then I met you, and you taught me how to see. If you can do this, I can overcome my life’s mountains, too. Thank you for these books. Thank you for your life.

Creative Museum: Stones, Leaves, Scissors

The Creative Museum just played a significant part in another exhibition at the Montelimar Miniature Museum.

STONES, LEAVES, SCISSORS is about hair ornaments made in three different ways. Whether an artist looks at a piece of jade and carves a crown, looks at a piece of silver and cuts leaves into an intricate pattern, or takes lock of hair and puts it in a locket or medallion — each method of craftsmanship is showcased.

The ground floor is dedicated to semi-precious stones on hair ornaments. This Chinese jade crown made in the Qing Dynasty and decorated with a phoenix is a great example.

Dragon figures were male symbols. When they were carved on a crown’s side wings, it was a sign of a well-read Chinese man. The wings could also be upright, as in this example of open-worked pale green jade. The solid parts are carved with dragons, which are also an emblem of power.

Jade stone was supposed to help deceased people reach heaven, so a jade comb was added to other burial objects inside the tomb. Transparency is one of its qualities. Its infinite shades — such as olive green, almond green, pinkish brown, or orchid white — are endless.

Women wore jade on more discrete ornaments. They usually preferred jadeite, which was less expensive and enjoyed the vivid green color against their jet black hair. This delicate hair ornament is for a “liang-patou” (large hair knot or black silk knot) and is richly decorated with gems and pearls. Note the little butterfly with a coral bead on the tip of its antennas.

From China again, these bright pink tourmalines strengthen the dazzle of the bright blue kingfisher feathers inlaid in Manchu adornments.

Amber is a fossil resin which presents different shades of yellow. It is pale yellow when it comes from the Baltic Sea, and a clear caramel color when from Europe. The plaque on this tortoiseshell comb features typical Skonvirke style flowers. It is made of repousse silver embellished with Baltic amber beads. (Hallmarks: H&C 830 S: H.N Hviid & Co in Copenhagen.)

In the same museum case, we added the brick red of cornelian from central asian adornments such as this double-sided Turkomen wedding comb, which is made of wood covered with embossed brass and decorated with gemstones on both sides.

We also included another liang-patou ornament, featuring twins carved in amber inside a lotus flower. The flower was once fully inlaid with kingfisher feathers. These figures are symbol of fertility.

The red garnet and the purple amethyst meet on Western pieces such as these two French Empire combs, one of glass stones, and the other sporting real amethysts.

Our Indian hair pin with opal and ruby, tortoiseshell Eugenie comb with malachite balls, and our theatre tiara with crystal quartz complete this colored collection of stones, a real must for any jewelry collection.

The leaves theme shows the use of floral design on hair ornaments, complex decoration that required highly skilled craftsmen. In the museum case, Chinese mirrors shine like bright stars next to hair combs decorated with branches and leaves. In Japan, nature has always been at the forefront of artists’ inspiration. This comb from Dejima painted with branches and leaves, and our Edo comb with chrysanthemums are perfect examples.

Tsunami kanzashi are hair pins whose flowers are made with folded silk squares.

When older women have formal parties, they favor traditional dress. They love older style kanzashi wedding sets. This silver wedding kanzashi portrays the long-living turtle Minogame and the crane, symbols of longevity and happiness.

This wedding headdress with exuberant blooms comes from the Miao people, a Chinese minority. It is part of a bridal dowry, and it would have been considered sacrilegious to have taken it away from the bride for any reason.

In the late 19th Century, Chinese craftsmen, who were expert at carving ivory and tortoiseshell, made ornamental combs for the Western market. Flowers like the lotus, a symbol of purity; the chrysanthemum, a symbol of longevity; and the rose, a symbol of luck; were the most popular designs.

On this hair ornament from Burma, the decoration appears like a flower and leaf bridge.

A spectacular headdress brings to an end, the leaves theme. It comes from Sumatra, weighs 3.3 pounds, and is worn for weddings. Each element is a flower, mounted on a spring stem, decorated with tiny leaves.

Today, we are surprised to see hair used as a material for jewelry, but it was very common in Victorian times. Bracelets, necklaces, brooches, even diadems were made with it. The British and French deeply appreciated wearing medallions with their initials: charm drops, pendants, and collar and cuff buttons made of woven hair. Medallions were often made as reliquary, which kept the permanent memory of a loved person. The traditional motif was a tomb with willow tree and cyprus as symbols of death.

Learning from the Creative Museum and Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment

In quotes are comments from Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment by Truus Daalder. Reference numbers are in italics and specified at the bottom. The photographs and other writing come from the collection and scholarship of The Creative Museum. I thought it would be interesting to combine them. They crossed paths in China, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia.

कंघी

“It is in the hairstyles and head decorations that perhaps the greatest variety of shapes exist, and the Southern Chinese minorities are possibly second only to the Mongolians in the exuberance of their headwear, particularly during festivals. Girls preserve hair lost in combing to compose extra hairpieces to incorporate into elaborate coiffures.” (1)

The dots and circles on the bone tines of this comb from The Creative Museum were made using pyrography, a technique where decorations are burned into wood or bone using a heated object. It also has cotton threads, black and white glass beads and a huge red pom pom in the middle. Red is the color of good fortune in China. The comb belongs to the Yao people.

“In pre-historic times, most of present-day Indonesia was attached to mainland Southeast Asia… However, when the ice melted after the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, low-lying land was covered by sea, and Indonesia turned into a country of thousands of islands… Over time, waves of migrants came to the Indonesian islands, particularly from mainland Southeast Asia.” (2)

The dugout-canoe shape of this striking, lacquered black-horn comb from the Creative Museum evokes the boat that brought ancestors from the south-east Asiatic continent to the Indonesian archipelago. It was made c. 1970.

“The mainland of Southeast Asia is the meeting place of many borders and many ethnic groups. Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam share many of their borders with each other, and often share ethnic groups, as well.” (3)

Among the reasons for this are

  • During the Ming Dynasty, the Han Chinese pushed minority groups south, and many settled in Southeast Asia
  • Barbarian invasions from the North and Northwest pushed some Tai language speakers to Burma, Laos, and Thailand
  • In the 19th century, kingdoms, such as the Khmer in Cambodia, gained and lost power, and there was British and French colonial expansion. Both factors changed the borders within Southeast Asia
  • In 1949, minority groups who fought Communism fled China when Mao won, and fled Laos in 1975, when the Communists took over there
  • Borders were of little concern to ethnic groups who practiced slash-and-burn agriculture (4)

The pyramid-shaped hair pins from The Creative Museum are worn by Red Taï and Hmong women in Laos. Their hairstyles often took more than one pin to keep them in place.

Made in the early 20th Century, the long one has a pyramid shape and ornate filigree decorations. It is hollow with a lid and used as a tobacco container, a marriage between beauty and function. The shorter one is wood wrapped in silver.

“The last dynasty before a period of instability and finally the victory of Communism in 1949 was the Manchu Qing Dynasty, consisting of Manchurian invaders from the North, which ruled from 1644 – 1911… Coral, jade, and pearls were popular, and during the Qing Dynasty there was also a revival of kingfisher feather jewellery. This was so popular that the kingfisher bird with the brightest blue feathers was hunted to extinction” (5)

Showcasing this history, the last piece I will feature is The Creative Museum’s stunning Manchu hairpin. It has three dimensions. The first layer is made of branch coral, amber, jadeite, and kingfisher feathers. The second layer is a circle of small coral beads, strung in small heart shapes. The third has a kingfisher decoration at the center. The piece is shaped to form a flower and bring good luck to the wearer.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please see the exhibits and publications of The Creative Museum. To order a copy of Chinese and Japanese Hair Ornaments, please write to contact@creative-museum.com. Payment can be made through Paypal.

Also, every collector must have


Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment

References:
(1) Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, by Truus Daalder, page 216
(2) Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, by Truus Daalder, page 171
(3) Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, by Truus Daalder, page 209
(4) Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, by Truus Daalder, page 209
(5) Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, by Truus Daalder, page 218

Chinese Hair Pins and Desolate, Derelict Pain

I saw. I gasped. I wanted — so badly, silent screams came from secret parts of my body.

In 1644, the Aisin-Goro clan of the Tungusic Jurchen people from Manchuria (now Northeast China) conquered the Han Chinese in the South. The Ming Dynasty gave way to the Qing Dynasty. These are Qing Dynasty silver hair pins made during the reign of the Guangxu emperor Aisin-Gioro Zaitian (1875 – 1908). He was the Dynasty’s 11th and penultimate emperor.

Beautifully preserved enamel encases coral drops. Hand-crafted butterflies and flowers punctuate the chains. The pair is in original condition.

The auction on E-bay started at $0.99. I watched as the price climbed to $300, 18 hours before auction end: 26 bids. I knew it was going to go, and I couldn’t enter that shock-and-awe $1000 snipe bid to win.

But I was wrong. Someone DID put in that nuclear snipe bid, and they lost! The hair pins sold for $1025 on March 25, 2013, to the 37th bidder. Congratulations.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine the Creative Museum’s Asian comb exhibition, Gina Hellweger’s first and second Chinese hair ornament collections,

this 1860 photograph of women in Guangzhou wearing hair ornaments, contributed by Alain Truong Trong Nghia

and these books:


Kingfisher Blue: Treasures of an Ancient Chinese Art

The Comb: Its History and Development

Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment

Taiwan Hair Pin Museum

As she started her day, a mother of three prepared herself for her family and tasks. In addition to her dress, she put up her hair with pins. Her life’s routine: cooking, caring, washing, stories untold.

The Taiwan Hair Pin Museum is dedicated to her. Monetary value does not dictate its 1000-piece collection, restoration does. They have a Hair Pin Hospital.

Established on Chinese New Year’s Eve 2011, they want viewers to feel as close to the objects they display as the women who used them. Their collection spans from antiquity to the modern age. Of equal importance are photographs of the women who wore them.

“We hope we can save hairpins which people think are not important and find the true value of these hairpins, try to find a story behind ordinary objects that women used and cherished every day.”

Here are some pictures:

Oxidized bronze hair pin excavated from a grave.

Metal hair pin, woman’s hand holding ball

Metal hair pin, woman holding cooking tools

Metal hair pin with a coin of Queen Victoria

Metal hair pin of a woman’s hand

Taiwan Aboriginal hair pin from the Rukai tribe — people of the Cloud Leopard

Postcard of a Chinese beauty made for French tourists

Postcard of a hand maiden doing an aristocratic woman’s hair

How to wear Chinese Hair Slides

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine


A World of Head Adornment

Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment

Kingfisher Blue: Treasures of an Ancient Chinese Art