#194 Antique Black Silk Embroidered Phoenix Hat. Unique Han Chinese Child’s Hat with silk embroidery on silver paper on the front and back crown of the hat; ear flaps have phoenixes of fine silk embroidery outlined in couched gold threads; the scalloped back wind flap has more exquisite satin stitch embroidery of butterflies for happiness, pomegranates for fertility, and buddha hands for immortality; the metallic thread Taoist images on the edges of the back flap are falling apart when the couching threads disintegrate from years of contact with the metals; old blue silk lining is very worn; c 1900; 22” circumference; Shanxi Province, China
