Chinese Qing Fingernail Guards

Fingernail guards or protectors were worn by a very elite group – Manchu court ladies of the late Qing dynasty. Long nails became synonymous with a life of luxury and having servants. As such they were valuable status symbols and so were protected with guards such as the one shown here. Typically not all the nails were protected but rather one, two or three on each hand. Photographs of Empress Cixi (1835-1908) for example show her wearing two or three nail guards on each of her hands.

The collection comprises:

(1)        a silver nail guard repoussed with flowers and foliage and with the humorous touch of being surmounted by a small silver frog. The underside has openwork with a repeated stylised ‘cash’ motif. (6.5cm long)

(2)        a silver nail guard decorated with raised parcel gilt floral/foliage designs over a gilded background, all within an engraved key-fret border. The underside shows openwork in the form of a long stem of prunus blossoms amid foliage. A shop mark ‘Fu Hua’ is stamped to the underside. (10.2cm long)

(3)       a silver nail guard repoussed with an open-work ‘cash’ motif, a butterfly, flowers and Taoist symbols. Enamelled in green and yellow and with an underside with two open-work ‘cash’ motifs. (6.5cm long)

(4)        a silver nail guard chased and with open-work that depicts floral sprays, Chinese characters, a butterfly, a bat and a cicada with an overlay of multitude of colours in enamel. The underside has open-work with a repeated stylised ‘cash’ motif. (8.5cm long)

(5)       A silver nail guard with extensive blue, green and red enamelling with a four-leaf clover and other motifs, the underside with a repeated open-work ‘cash’ motif. (7.4cm long)