Two silver hat ornaments depicting Immortals. One is sitting on a Tiger, recognizable by the character ‘wang’ (king) on its forehead and the other one rides a Buffalo. The Immortal on the tiger is most probably the Taoist deity Zhang Tianshi who is usually seen riding a tiger. The Immortal on the buffalo is without much doubt the founder of Taoism, Laozi, who crossed the mountains on a buffalo. The clouds on these hat ornaments reveal that the two figures are Immortals. On the back of these amusing ornaments are the marks De Hua (德華) who was probably the silversmith or retailer and Zuwen (足纹) meaning ‘silver’. Both hat ornaments served as a protection against evil and date from the late Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). Height 4.0 cm. Width 1.8 cm. Depth 1.6 cm.