Silver needle case in the shape of a woman of the Hakka-minority recognizable by her hat. Her dress is decorated with the head of a Ruyi scepter (symbolizing that everything wished for will come true) and a elongated Shou symbol (changjiao shou) which means ‘May you have a very long life (changshou) because anything long can be linked to Longevity. On the back of her dress are a Plum flower and another Shou symbol. The five petals of the Plum flower symbolize the Five Blessings, Old age, Health, Wealth, Love of Virtue and a Peaceful death. The chain is attached to a very small needle holder inside which would have been filled with horse hair to stop the needles from falling out. A bell decorated with a Finger citron (Blessings & Longevity) and a Peach (Longevity) dangles at the bottom. The hook is shaped like a Bat with a Coin in its mouth which leads to the pun ‘Blessings before your eyes’ (fuzai yangian). The word for Bat (Fu) is a pun for Blessings and Coin (Qian) sounds like ‘Before’ (Qian). The central opening of the Coin is called an ‘eye’ (yan). Depictions of the Hakka-minority were very popular in the old days. Hakka women did not have bound feet as they were working in the fields or were selling haberdasheries. They were easily recognizable by their unique broad rimmed hats which were surrounded by a kind of cloth curtain shielding their faces from the sun. This unmarked needle case dates from the late Qing period (1644 – 1912). Total length 17 cm. Hakka woman Length 4.7 cm. Width 1.9 cm. Depth 1.1 cm.