Silver spoon-shaped hairpin engraved with Double Happiness characters. The character ‘xi’ means Happiness or Joy. Double Happiness (shuangxi) is a popular symbol for weddings as good things come in pairs. The plum flower has five petals which are symbolic for the Five Blessings, Old age, Good health, Wealth, Love of virtue and a Peaceful death. The hairpin is marked with two characters of which we can only decipher the first one, Yin (银). The second character is illegible. The pin dates from the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). Length 10.5 cm. Width 2.1 cm.