hair pin

General view of object no. 2012.50.
General view of object no. 2012.50.

White metal hair pin from Laos, possibly of Hmong origin, in the shape of a poppy (Papaver somniferum) seed-head. The pin is thin and the tip is pointed. At the decorated base, white metal wire is wrapped and merges into the large ovoid seed head. The seed head is striated (three sets of four vertical markings, evenly spaced), possibly in a representation of bleeding the poppy for opium. The top of the seed head (the base of the pin) is stylised: a ten sided open work floral pattern is tipped with a white metal hemispherical dome.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
2012.50
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 151 mm x 20 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
metal; wire
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
SHAREABLE LINK

Continue exploring anthropology

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk