Unknown Maker, American

Hairpins and exquisite headdresses adorned female figures in many portraits and narrative prints making their way from China and Japan to the West in the late 19th century. The glamour of the women portrayed in these scenes was not lost on Western viewers, who adopted both their imported goods and interpretations. English painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti employed kingfisher hair ornaments on models in both The Beloved ( 1865 - 66) and The Blue Bower ( 1865). The vogue for similarly crafted items, complete with small springs to mimic the trembling effect of butterfly wings, was well documented in period advertisements and extant collection objects. Look closely at the kingfisher headdress (44.048.1) on the other side of the case, and then at the jet-style hairpin, and you will see that they share similar spring mechanisms.