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Unknown Maker, Chinese

Festive headdress (dianzi) for an empress or an imperial consort with phoenixes and flowers

Maker

Unknown Maker, Chinese

Culture

Chinese

Title

Festive headdress (dianzi) for an empress or an imperial consort with phoenixes and flowers

Year

1850-1900

Medium

  • Silver (?) and copper-alloy with gilding,
  • kingfisher feather,
  • jadeite,
  • imitation pearls (?),
  • coral,
  • glass,
  • tourmaline (?) ,
  • rose quartz (?); frame: metal wires with black and green silk floss and black satin

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Silver (?) and copper-alloy with gilding,
  • kingfisher feather,
  • Jadeite,
  • imitation pearls (?),
  • coral,
  • glass,
  • tourmaline (?) ,
  • rose quartz (?); frame: metal wires with black and green silk floss and black satin

Dimensions

15.2 cm (6 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

37.125

Type

  • Costume Accessories

Exhibition History

Shimmering Beauty
Kingfishers in Art and Poetry
Dec 20, 2025 – Jun 07, 2026
The Applied Image
Mar 11, 1998 – Jun 21, 1998

Label copy

On holidays or days of ceremonies and celebration, Manchu women abandoned their traditional hairstyle and wore ritual clothes and headdresses known as tienizu. The dangling pearls on this headdress distinguish it as a phoenix headdress.

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Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Chinese
Festive headdress (dianzi) for an empress or an imperial consort with phoenixes and flowers , 1850-1900
Silver (?) and copper-alloy with gilding, kingfisher feather, jadeite, imitation pearls (?), coral, glass, tourmaline (?) , rose quartz (?); frame: metal wires with black and green silk floss and black satin
15.2 cm (6 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 37.125

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