Gilt silver hairpin decorated with circular Shou-medallions. A circular ‘Shou ‘ character means ‘May you have Longevity as well as Completeness’. The character ‘Shou’ refers to Longevity and the circular shape (yuan) means ‘Completeness’ (yuanman). The quality of this hairpin is quite good. On the back are three characters of which we can only read the last two, Qing Long (慶隆) who may have been the silversmith or retailer. It dates from the end of the Qing (1644 – 1912) to the early Republic period (1912 – 1947). Length 9.4 cm. Width 1.1 cm.