Diancui inlaid stone golden dragon phoenix crown

[Diancui Zhushi Jinlong Phoenix Crown]

Phoenix crown, Ming Wanli, 35.5 cm high, 20 cm diameter, 2.95 kg weight
Unearthed in Dingling, Changping District, Beijing in 1956
The owner of the phoenix crown is Empress Mingshenzong Xiaojing. Empress Xiaojing was the imperial concubine before her death, and was chased and honored as the queen after her death
The phoenix crown is the top hat of the queen. It is worn by the queen when she accepts orders, pays homage to the ancestral temple and worships ancestors, and attends the court meeting. According to the Ming Huiyao in the third year of Yongle’s reign in the Ming Dynasty (1405), it was stipulated that the queen’s phoenix crown was “nine dragons and four phoenix crowns, painted with bamboo wire as a round frame, covered with emerald jade, and decorated with nine golden phoenix dragons on the top, with a dragon in the middle holding a large pearl one, with a jade cover on the top, hanging beads, and the rest holding beads in the mouth. There are 40 pieces of pearl cloud, 12 trees of large pearl flowers, and three small pearl flowers like large pearl flowers”
This phoenix crown is made of lacquered fine bamboo silk. It is decorated with wishful clouds dotted with kingfisher feathers and surrounded by 18 plum flowers made of pearls and gemstones. The front of the crown is decorated with a pair of symmetrical turquoise blue flying phoenix. At the top of the crown, three gold dragons made of gold wire are arranged at an equal distance, of which the left and right sides hold jewelry tassels. The back of the crown is decorated with six “Bo temples” made of pearls and gemstones, which are fan-shaped and separated from each other. The rim of the crown is inlaid with ruby flowers.

孝端皇后凤冠背面