Velvet Flower Hairpin · Blue Aster

Velvet flower — rong hua — is a Chinese craft more than a thousand years old, worn at the Tang court and long favored at weddings: the name is a homophone of "prosperity." Not a bloom that fades, and not sewn cloth — mulberry silk floss is twisted onto fine brass wire, petal by petal, until the silk catches the light like velvet. In 2006 it was listed as intangible cultural heritage, and it is still made entirely by hand.

This handmade velvet flower piece works as both a flower hairpin and a flower brooch. It is two pale-blue asters on a slender stem, approx. 80 × 140 mm, made to wear two ways: as a hairpin or as a brooch. A single silkworm cocoon yields roughly a kilometre of silk thread, and it takes hours of winding to build blooms this size. Every petal is shaped by hand, so size and posture vary slightly from piece to piece.

Title: Velvet Flower Hairpin · Blue Aster
Subject: Floral · Hair ornament / brooch
Mediums: Mulberry silk, brass wire
Craft: Intangible cultural heritage velvet flower
Rarity: One of a kind — hand-shaped, sizes vary slightly
Size: approx. 3.1 × 5.5 in (80 × 140 mm); wears as hairpin or brooch
Packaging: Ships in a protective gift box
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No water, no oil, no pressure. Water can warp the silk and rust the wire; oil leaves a mark that will not come out. Dust with a soft brush, store dry and ventilated, away from direct sun and anything that would press on it.