Large black silk collar embroidered with auspicious flowers on leaf-like panels and symbolic decorations on the four ruyi-shaped corners. One corner shows a lotus plant (lian) and two waterfowl which undoubtedly are meant to be egrets (lu) which leads to the saying ‘May you pass your exams one after another’ (lulu lianke). Another corner shows a magpie in a plum tree which is a pun ’May your joy reach up to the level of your eyebrows’ (xishang meishao). Butterflies (hudie) and a Peony (fuguihua) on the next corner lead to the saying ‘May you have an accumulation of blessings, wealth and high social status’ (fudie gugui). The flower on the last corner could be a Chrysanthemum (Longevity) but we are not sure. The collar dates from the late Qing (1644 – 1912) to the early Republic period (1912 – 1947). Size of the collar: Diagonally 61 cm. Width 46 cm.