Lady Li Earrings

Her name was Lady Li.

In a portrait made in China around 1876, she looks directly outward from the paper, formally dressed and composed. Her dark blue clothing frames a face rendered with remarkable individuality, while small flashes of brilliant green punctuate the portrait.

At her ears hang green jade earrings.

It is a seemingly intimate detail, yet it is precisely these details that allow a portrait made almost 150 years ago to bring its subject closer to us.

Lady Li was the wife of Lu Xifu, and her portrait survives in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. It became closely associated with the British Museum's China's hidden century exhibition, which explored the extraordinary social, cultural and technological transformations experienced in China during the long nineteenth century.

The jewellery she wears contributes to that story.

Against the deep blue of her clothing, the green earrings immediately command attention. Their colour is echoed by the green ornament at her throat, creating brilliant accents within an otherwise restrained portrait.

It was this distinctive detail that inspired the Lady Li Earrings, created exclusively for the British Museum exhibition.

Shinar's interpretation does not attempt to disguise a modern material as historical jade. Instead, the intense green appearance of Lady Li's earrings is reimagined through synthetic malachite, whose bands of green create a dramatic circular element.

Above each ring sits a luminous 6 mm natural freshwater pearl. The creamy surface of the pearl contrasts with the saturated green below, while a fine connecting chain introduces movement between the elements.

As the wearer moves, so does the suspended ring.

The result is not simply a piece of jewellery inspired by nineteenth-century China. It begins with something far more personal: a piece of jewellery worn by an individual woman whose likeness has survived from Qing China.

From portrait to exhibition, and from portrait to jewel, the detail endures.