Mandarin Chain Bead Necklace (1800s): Art, History and Details

Mandarin Chain Bead Necklace (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Bead necklaces were worn by both high-ranking women and men, with a central string running over the person’s back and two side strings falling parallel to the necklace over the chest.

Object facts

• Title: Mandarin Chain Bead Necklace
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Jewelry
• Technique: tourmaline, jade, pearls, seed pearls, seed coral and gilt metal
• Dimensions: Overall: 120.6 cm (47 1/2 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1945.167

A detail from the museum

The gilt metal was decorated with blue kingfisher feathers.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Ralph King

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hollis, Howard. "A Mandarin Chain." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 3 (March 1946): 27.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.