Details
AN ANTIQUE "PEKING GLASS" YU PEI
The pendant carved as a melon with vines and tendrils, suspended by a red cord from a gold fish form coral bead, the knots sewn with seed pearls, Qing dynasty
length 41 x 35.2 x 13 mm
The pendant carved as a melon with vines and tendrils, suspended by a red cord from a gold fish form coral bead, the knots sewn with seed pearls, Qing dynasty
length 41 x 35.2 x 13 mm
Further details
The yu pei was a pendant strung from a cord with a bead, and hung from a jacket against the chest. It was one of the most popular forms of jewellery in the Qing dynasty (see p .... for a photograph of Cixi wearing a tourmaline yu pei). A great variety of precious and semi-precious materials were used to make the pendants, but they can almost always be recognised because they have suspension holes at their apex and a characteristic flattened rounded rectangular or slightly tapering oval shape. The motifs used were ausupicious (for the rebus of lot ..... see pp), a favourite being that of the squirrel and grapes ... meaning.... ... Important in the creation of the yu pei was the selection of the bead, which was always in a contrasting colour, showing the sophisticated colour sense of the Chinese during the Qing dynasty