Pendant
maker
Unknown
Date19th century
Place MadeChina, East Asia
MediumJade and gilded silver inlaid with kingfisher feathers
Dimensions6 x 7.7 cm (2 3/8 x 3 1/16 in.)
ClassificationsJewelry
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberU18e56
eMuseum ID726985
EmbARK ObjectID14258
Previous Number542
TMS Source ID3069
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn Beijing on October 6, 1883, Isabella visited a shop and noted, “Saw there wonderful decorations and jewels bought for bride, of stones, and king-fisher feathers.” It is very likely that she purchased this pair of hair ornaments and a pendant at this time. Objects decorated with the iridescent blue feathers of the kingfisher were highly prized in China for their exceptional color and sheen, and perhaps also because of the painstaking process of cutting and pasting the minute feathers.
Source: “Chinese Objects,” inJourneys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia,edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 445-446.
Source: “Chinese Objects,” inJourneys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia,edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 445-446.
BibliographyNotesAlan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 206, 445-47, fig. 16. (as Chinese, dated 19th century)
MarksNotesInscribed (on plaque, recto): Longevity (be as everlasting) as the Southern Mountain [translation from Chinese]
Inscribed (on plaque, verso): May you always be well and live long [translation from Chinese]
Inscribed (on plaque, verso): May you always be well and live long [translation from Chinese]
ProvenanceNotesProbably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Peking (Beijing), October 1883.
