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Antique Silver Gilt Chinese Kingfisher Feathers Brooch

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Solved!221 of 249HENRI 11 CHAIR,FRENCH, 1840s-1880s, COMBINES STYLES OF EARLIER ERAS INTO WHIMSICAL STYLESWas told it was an ink well -
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    Posted 10 years ago

    Agram.m
    (760 items)

    This is a small (3.5 x 2.3 cm) Antique Chinese Kingfisher feathers brooch. There are beautiful colors including some with flowers and leaves. On the back is a mark which include the initials: K L S.
    Thanks to KYRATANGO I know now that this kind of jewelry was made of Kingfishers feather pieces glued as cloisonné like onto gilt silver.
    The art of feather inlay required a base and frame to contain it; since only the seriously wealthy were able to afford it, this "captive audience" was of obvious attraction to the silversmith. The inlay process required cutting tiny pieces of iridescent feathers and combining it with a crystal clear glue that was set into a silver gilt frame and base to give an overall effect that was not visually dissimilar from cloisonné work.
    Maybe one of you can give me maybe something about the mark and / or the significance of the Chinese letters forming the pattern of the brooch.

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    Comments

    1. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      freiheit thanks for your quick respons and loving.
      Do you agree with me that it's a pity we don't see any more comments (names and the first words of the answers) on the right site of the pages??
    2. Newtimes Newtimes, 10 years ago
      Its a beauty!
    3. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      Newtimes thanks for your compliment and loving!
    4. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      aghcollect thanks for loving.
    5. SEAN68 SEAN68, 10 years ago
      Beautiful!!!!
    6. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      SEAN68 THANKS!
    7. cindyjune cindyjune, 10 years ago
      How lovely! You have such a wonderful collection.
    8. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      Cindyjune what a very nice remark, thanks !
    9. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      DrFluffy,tom61375, Moonstonelover21, walksoftly, vetraio50, valentino9,
      bratjdd, toolate2, lisa, and Manikin I thank all of you for loving!!
      PLEASE HELP ME TO DECODE THE MARKS AND TEXT ON THE BROOCH!!
    10. AmberRose AmberRose, 10 years ago
      Great colors! Very pretty!
    11. AmberRose AmberRose, 10 years ago
      Oh, it looks like KOSDOE to me...no idea what that means, sorry.
    12. kyratango kyratango, 10 years ago
      Sorry not to be able to help with the marks, just can say this was not made for export...
      But more important, it is not enamel (only perhaps if restored areas). It is kingfisher tiny feathers pieces glued as cloisonne like.
      Have a look at Wikipedia kingfisher tian-tsui!
      Wonderfull find!
    13. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      kyatango, thanks you so much! You are right indeed. When looking through the magnifier I indeed see little pieces saying to myself: "This is no enamel" but as you say Kingfisher feathers. It was really a find because I liked the colors and pattern of this brooch so much not yet knowing what is was. I only paid a few dollars because the seller didn't know this either and it was sold as enamel.
      Thanks you again so much for explaining I'm very grateful to learn about more and more from you, other collectors!
    14. SEAN68 SEAN68, 10 years ago
      Your welcome Agram.m:)
    15. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      AmberRose thanks, I know now thanks to Kyratango what it is!
    16. kyratango kyratango, 10 years ago
      You're welcome :-)
    17. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      vintagejewel thanks a lot for loving
    18. Agram.m Agram.m, 10 years ago
      nutsabotash6, thanks for your nice compliment and loving. I agree the colors are so beautiful. When I got it I though in the first place it was enameled but it seems to be Kingfisher feathers.
    19. funi, 9 years ago
      I'm from China. This maybe for Export since Qing daynasty in China history, as it was marked for English letters. If it's for China domestic, it will be marked in Chinese , name after the manufacturer.
    20. katherinescollections katherinescollections, 9 years ago
      Okay, but what does it say? :)
    21. Agram.m Agram.m, 9 years ago
      Moonstonelover21 thanks for love
    22. Agram.m Agram.m, 9 years ago
      katherinescollections thanks for love and help.
    23. Agram.m Agram.m, 9 years ago
      Funi thanks for your comment and love but indeed I agree with katherinescollections what does it say?
    24. kyratango kyratango, 9 years ago
      Hi Agram :-)
      The characters are upside down on your pics, you will find them in auspicious chinese lucky characters. Keep in mind they may be either simplified or more "ornate"!
      General meaning of these writing is usually, prosperity, happiness, health.
    25. Agram.m Agram.m, 9 years ago
      kyratango, thanks for your valuable comment. I got the Chinese lucky characters translated into Chinese placed next to the mark. But I get no match. It remains literal Chinese to me. Perhaps one of the collectors who has knowledge of the Chinese language is powerful here to say more. So far I see no solution to this question, do you? In any case, thanks a lot.
    26. melaniej melaniej, 8 years ago
      Agram It's beautiful
      Hope you get an answer on the characters
      I still haven't figured out the characters on my jade amulet drives me insane not knowing
    27. melaniej melaniej, 8 years ago
      http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=chardict
    28. Agram.m Agram.m, 8 years ago
      melaniej I completely understand it drives you insane that happens to me often. It can take days sometimes weeks, continue to look for solutions to mysteries concerning jewelry. But the link you gave will be of help I hope.
    29. Master Master, 7 years ago
      Amazing piece
    30. Agram.m Agram.m, 7 years ago
      Master thanks for your love and nice compliment and of course I agree.
    31. Parrotbeak Parrotbeak, 5 years ago
      I don't know if this was ever solved, but in case not, while I can't read Chinese, I do have some knowledge to "handle" these characters. And from what I can tell, they read ? "longevity", ? "prosperity", ? "good fortune". First I'm certain of, second I have no doubt, but third is more deduction and comparison to other sloppily/artistically written ?'s (it def starts with ?, though, just like the second symbol does).
    32. Parrotbeak Parrotbeak, 5 years ago
      Okay, didn't expect them to be turned into question marks. So, wiktionary links it is:

      https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%AF%BF - longevity
      https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%A5%BF - prosperity
      https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%A6%8F - good fortune
      https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%A4%BB - starter component of second and third symbol
    33. Agram.m Agram.m, 5 years ago
      Parrotbeak thank you very much for your useful and informative comment !
      Now you have given me an answer to my questions.

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