Mystery item – can you guess what it is? Butterfly clip
ByHere’s a very pretty but sadly damaged item which is a bit unusual and I am not exactly sure of its purpose. Can you help me?
Mystery butterfly
There are 2 pierced “silver ” butterflies which are separated by a coiled spring. This arrangement sits on top of a further long spring and is then attached to a pointed metal bar. On the back are some symbols which I suspect are oriental (Chinese or Japanese writing?). It is actually made of silver.
Butterfly with spike
So what is this pretty object? The metal bar is meant to stick into something and perhaps you could hold a piece of card or perhaps a flower between the butterflies. In total it measures about 19 cms long and 6.5 cms across the wing tips of the butterflies.
My guess it that it was originally intended to be used at an elegant banquet or buffet . It would be stuck into a cake or a pile of sandwiches and a little card would tell the dinner the about the food. Does anyone have any better ideas?
As this piece has damage to the butterflies wing tips I cannot sell it and am going to send it for free to the person with the best reply to this post. As it is such a romantic thing I am going to close the offer on Valentines day February 14th. Please check back on this Blog to see if are the new owner.
I like the idea of a fancy buffet card holder, but when I first saw this, it reminded me of the hair accessories worn by geisha in Japan -known as “Kanzashi” – some even believe that although they were decorative, they were also used as a weapon for self-defense if need be.
I’m certain that I can’t possibly be correct, but my first thought was “hatpin.”
i looks like a hair accesory to me. the long bar part holds the hair, while the butterflies clip hanging flowers, in traditional hair arrangement for japanese women who wears the traditional japanese attire called kimono.
nice contest!
just a sidenote… hubby and I have the same guess. although he also said, it looks like a fancy letter opener…
[...] to remind you that there is only 2 days left until my free give away of the silver butterfly clip ends. I am interested in your thoughts as to what it might be and the best idea wins the [...]
Sorry for the delay in updating this. I am going to send this to Joy if she would like to contact me with her address