Antique Hairpin Jewelry from Ceylon (late 19th to early 20th Century) - #7

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Antique Hairpin Jewelry from Ceylon (late 19th to early 20th Century) - #7:
$75.00

Collection of Silver in Gold Gilt Kondakoora Hairpins/Brooches. late 19th - early 20th century.

This is a silver (with gold gilt) hairpin set with local Ceylon \"Matara\" stones and pearls. Matara is a sea port on the south coast of Sri Lanka from where the stones come. Known as kondakoora hairpins, each has an arrow-like end and a boteh-shaped finial. Such hairpins were worn by women in the \'Low Country\' regions of Sri Lanka from the 18th through to the early 20th century.

length: 3 1/2\" (slightly over 3 1/2\")
finial width: 3/4\" (slightly over 3/4\")

This is in excellent condition with all 9 \"Matara\" stones and 5 pearls present. No missing stones.

This ad and pricing is only for the single hair pin in picture #1. Rest of the hairpins (hairpin collection for sale) are shown in the last few photographs.

This item was estimated by a leading sale house in London.
Note : This is an estimate provided on the face value of the item and the actual value will vary depending on the lab tests of the metal and stone.

Here is a link to the sale of similar hairpins by a leading sale house in London:

Almost invariably, these are wrongly ascribed to India or Turkey and described as turban ornaments. An early photograph in the ad shows a Sri Lankan woman
wearing such a pin in her hair. Later, the fashion developed in Sri Lanka for the hairpins to be worn as brooches a long brooch pin can be fitted on the reverse so that they can be worn as a brooch if needed.

Similar hairpins are displayed at British Museum and National Museum of Sri Lanka. Three examples are illustrated in Cruse (2007, p. 115). Examples also have appeared in Malaysia where Chettiyar women, particularly in Malacca, wore them. It is not clear however, if the Malaysian examples were made in Malaysia (there were plenty of Tamil jewellers in the Straits Settlements) or if they were imported from Sri Lanka. In any event, the national museum of Malaysia, Museum Negara Malaysia, has seven such hairpins in its collection. Kassim (1988)
observes that it was indeed the Chettiyar of Malacca who wore them.

This is a fine example of such hairpins.

We ship international.

References:
Coomaraswamy, A.K., Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, Pantheon Books, 1956.
Wimalaratne, K.D.G. & D. Gomes, Costumes of Sri Lanka, 2001

We ship international.