On the feather crown of the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, there are golden dragons made of gold wire and emerald peaks made of jade. The traditional manual skill that the Queen's crown needs "filigree inlay" is that gold, silver, copper and other metals are melted, cast into strips, drawn into filaments, and then kneaded, woven, filled, stacked and welded to make ornaments.

Finally, jewelry, jadeite and precious stones are inlaid on gold and silver ornaments by various inlay techniques. The blue color on the queen's rockhopper is a craft called "Diancui", and the "Cui" in Diancui refers not to jadeite, but to the blue feathers of kingfisher. When decorating jade, the craftsman first takes off the blue feathers of kingfisher and then sticks them on the ornaments. Although the kingfisher's feathers are beautiful, in order to protect the kingfisher, today's cuisines have been changed into goose feathers or silk fabrics.

Click to see more "Seeing Civilization through Time and Space: A Panoramic Hand-painted History of China"?