A Richly Ornamented Kingfisher Feather Court Headdress (Dianzi). Qing Dynasty, 19th Century

decorated on the black silk webbing around the curved front with a large filigree phoenix with out-stretched wings of pearls and kingfisher feathers, similarly decorated above and to the sloping back with rows of similar phoenix reserved on a cash-diaper kingfisher feather ground. 30cm., 11 3/4 in. Lot sold 17,500 GBP

PROVENANCE: From a European noble family acquired in China in 1900 and hence in the family by descent.

NOTE : Highly ornate headdresses of this type were worn with ritual clothes by Manchu ladies on special holidays or informal ceremonial occasions. The black silk webbing and clusters of decorations were intended to give the impression of numerous hairpins arranged in an elegant upswept coiffure. See a related headdress included in the Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Costume Accessories, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. nos 85-87; one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 11^th July 2006, lot 65; another sold at Christie's New York, 26^th March 2003, lot 76; and two versions of rounded shape with hanging pearls, sold in these rooms, 12^th June 2003, lots 32 and 33.

The technique of inlaying feathers is called dianzi, meaning 'dotting the kingfishers', whereby the feather is cut into shape and attached with glue onto the base. The intense blue colour of the feathers comes not from pigments in the feather itself, but in the way light is bent back and reflected back to the eye. The most expensive and highest quality works traditionally used feathers imported from Cambodia, and it is said that Chinese imperial demand for kingfisher feathers may have contributed to the wealth of the Khmer Empire. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 05 Nov 08. London. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. www.sothebys.com