The dragon earrings we analysed in the previous post are showcased in a cabinet in the Garland of Treasures section at Taipei's National Palace Museum next to two relatively simple designs.
In that post we looked at the mathematical perfection behind the act of wearing three sets of earrings, but in the same cabinet there are two pieces characterised instead by a perfect shape – a circle.
Specifically, the cabinet includes a circular gold threadwork collar band adorned with Dong pearls, coral and yellow silk bands decorated with coral pendants from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and a gold headband with lapis lazuli (located at the back of the cabinet, also from the Qing Dynasty). Usually the empresses and noble consorts were mandated to wear headdresses adorned with pearls.
These pieces carry symbolic significance: worn during ceremonial rituals, they reflected social status; the latter was indeed determined by the quantity of pearls included in the collar and by the design of the hanging ribbons.
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