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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 243181, member: 360&quot;]I knew these looked familiar.</p><p><br /></p><p>They&#039;re called cucuk sanggul (Malay. Literally &#039;Bun-pokers&#039;, as in hair-buns).</p><p><br /></p><p>They were common in the Straits Settlements, especially among the Straits Chinese Nyonyas (women). Often made of silver, although they could be made of brass or copper, and really fancy ones, out of gold.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yours would date to the middle or late 1800s I suspect, and would have been made in Singapore, Penang, Malacca, or possibly Java or Sumatra (strongholds of Peranakan society in the 1800s). If it is straits chinese (and I have no reason to think it isn&#039;t), then they would&#039;ve been handmade by a Peranakan silversmith, usually as a commissioned piece of jewelry to a wealthy bibik (married lady of leisure <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/tongue.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":p" unselectable="on" /> )</p><p><br /></p><p>Peranakan/Straits Chinese jewelry is extremely rare. I would guard those with your life. Hardly any of it still exists these days. And when it does, people want thousands of dollars for them. I have a few cheaper pieces which I bought and inherited, and even those were bloody hard to find.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recognised them at once, from how intricate they are. It&#039;s a trademark of all things Peranakan.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a blog which specialises in Peranakan antiques, and this is his page on cucuk sanggul. Anything look familiar?? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/tongue.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":p" unselectable="on" /> :</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/cucuk-sanggul.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/cucuk-sanggul.html" rel="nofollow">http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/cucuk-sanggul.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>More varieties of cucuk sanggul:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cucuk-sanggul-2.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cucuk-sanggul-2.html" rel="nofollow">http://enticz.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/cucuk-sanggul-2.html</a> </p><p><br /></p><p>---</p><p><br /></p><p>If you&#039;re the superstitious type who doesn&#039;t want them - I&#039;ll happily take them off your hand! I have their compadres, which are feeling a bit lonely...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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