The jade flowers in the Lowlands-collection were originally used to embellish all sorts of dress items such as jewelry, collars, buckles and hairpins. Hairpins have been popular in China for thousands of years and it is not surprising that jade flowers were used to make them more attractive. The photos in this introduction show a number of hairpins with jade flowers from museums or private collections, all dating from the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644) except for the last one which features five Ming-flowers in a the Qing dynasty setting. The majority of the jade hairpin-flowers in the Lowlands-collection date from the Ming period or earlier but the pins themselves are later and date from the Qing period (1644 – 1912) with the exception of one hairpin (See Quick Find 7972) which has all the characteristics of the Ming-type.