Tuesday 25 September 2012

What are these ornaments?

 During the summer I collected a number of things to add to my crazy quilt block. Ribbon, lace, thread, braids, buttons... Among them are these ornaments:




I found them at a rural flea market on the Swedish island of Gotland, of all places. The other things on the same tray were old paper clips, rusty screwdrivers, snap buttons, bent tea spoons and small plastic toys, in other words real junk. These ornaments, on the other hand, with imitation diamonds, beads, goldwork purls and fine thread shone like the crown jewels! 
Wouldn't they be excellent for the CQ block? The price was, in my opinion, ridiculously low.

Since I returned to Tokyo I have tried to trace the origin of these items, but would like to get the help from visitors to my blog. Does anyone know where these ornaments are from? What are they called? What are they for? Would it be all right to put them on my CQ block, or is that in bad taste?

The 'pendant' on the left has two short red threads attached to each upper triangle. The 'brooch' on the right has a Velcro ribbon behind the upper bar. How and where should they be attached?

I am grateful for any help.

13 comments:

margaret said...

you have certainly find something I have never seen before, Queenie, do not have a clue what or who they were made for, maybe as you bought them in Sweden someone from there might be able to help.I am not sure about putting them on a CQ until you know what they are about in case they are medals or something.Will be interesting to see and hear what others think

Queeniepatch said...

My guess is that they are Indian, but are they, as you suggested some kind of medals or even decoration for deities? For sure, they are NOT Swedish and I have no idea how they ended up at a flea market in the middle of nowhere in Scandianvia. So I am full of curiosity as you can understand.

latha said...

These are from India . One is a neck wear and other I think is a hair clip . They are very pretty. Price is written in Indian currency.If you convert it into dollar it is $2.00.

Annet said...

They are very pretty, but I haven't seen anything like this before. Maybe they came from India. Did you try to Google the words on the sticker? I hope somebody knows what this is!

Claudia said...

I'm so sorry but I have no idea what these ornaments are. But I think somebody did not like them anymore and gave them away. Is a quilt not a better place for the ornaments than a hidden place where nobody can see them ?

Queeniepatch said...

THANK YOU, Latha. This is just the information I wanted and I now feel happy to add these beautiful accessories to my CQ block.

Queeniepatch said...

Hi, Annet!
I did Google the info on the sticker and only got a hint it was Indian. Probably the top word is a name but the second I have no clue. Google map gave no info to the address. Now Latha has confirmed the Indian connection and explained what the ornaments are I am very happy.

Queeniepatch said...

Hello, Claudia!
I fully agree, these beauties belong more on a quilt than in a dusty junk filled barn in 'the sticks'. Probably the person who donated them did not see like them or find a use for them. Latha said one is a hair ornament. Had I had longer hair I would feel very tempted to arrange my hair into a pony tail adorned with this jewel. As it is my hair is short and these two items will be on the CQ block shortly. Watch this space!

Queeniepatch said...

Vijayalakshmi Krishnani, who was not able to post a comment on my blog, emailed me to give this information:

Dear, I had seen the ornament in your blog.
It is Indian.
It is available all over India at the pilgrimage centres.
It is done at Srinagar.

We use this for decorating the deities.
It is ery pretty. Use this as per your taste in embroidary.

Thank you Viji, and I will use it on my CQ block.

margaret said...

so good to see you have found out about those pieces and look forward to seeing them on a block

Queeniepatch said...

It will one of the stitching jobs tonight, but I won't blog about it until next week's WIP. Be patient and wait until Wednesday!

crazyQstitcher said...

How beautiful are your finds and a bargain as well. It's great to have such fast reply to your query by online friends.
I look forward to seeing what delight you come up with, as I am sure you will.

Queeniepatch said...

Yes, I am indeed fortunate to have met so many good people through TAST. The inspiration, encouragement and help one can get from online friends is amazing.
This CQ block, started to have something to do during summer vacation, will be full of mementoes and it is so enjoyable to add a trinket or ribbon and remember where and who I got it from. By blogging about it I hope to remember it for a long time!