Mandarin Hat-Button Bells
By Harold L. Auman
(Bells of Parma)
A supplement from The Bell Tower, May 1966
(Reprinted with permission)
Let us first consider the term “Mandarin.” Mandarin is a Chinese Magistrate or high ranking Public Official.
It was the main and official dialect of China.
The Manchus, who founded the Ch’ing Dynasty, which extended from 1644-1911, felt very strongly about the ranks of the Chinese nobles and officials and decreed their rank should be indicated by various insignia in the form of jeweled ornaments.
It was they who decreed that for each rank, a certain colored jewel be placed at the apex of the hat.
The wearing of a hat was a distinction of wealth and these head coverings were only available in such communities and was their special perogative.
Neither Greeks or Romans wore any covering on the head during the heroic ages of history. The Chinese employed various types of hats, depending on the seasons. Should the season prove intensely sultry, the tapering queue alone adorned the Aristocrat’s head. In less warm weather, a skull cap of padded silk is worn and when still cooler, a cap made of the thinnest rattan.
These different coverings were adapted to summer and winter to home and out-of-door use. The summer cap most generally worn, is a hollow, upright cone of bamboo filaments, the apex of which is terminated by a precious jewel according to the rank of the wearer.
There were, according to tradition, nine official ranks; each distinguished by a different color. The first rank wore a precious ruby, or a transparent red stone. A Manchurian crane is embroidered on the breast and back of the robe, while the girdle clasp is jade, set in rubies.
The second rank wore a red coral button and robe embroidered with a golden pheasant; the girdle clasp of gold set in rubies.
The third rank wore a sapphire and a one-eyed peacock feather and robe with a peacock; the girdle clasp of worked gold.
The fourth rank wore a lapis lazuli (a rich blue stone) or blue opaque stone and with a wild goose on the robe and a clasp of worked gold with silver button.
The fifth rank wore a crystal button and robe with silver pheasant and clasp of plain gold with silver button.
The sixth rank wore an opaque white shell or moonstone, an egret on the robe and clasp of mother-of-pearl.
Seventh rank; a plain gold button, a Mandarin duck on the robe and a clasp of plain silver.
Eighth rank; a worked gold button, a quail on the robe and a clasp of clear horn.
Ninth rank; a worked silver button and a long-tailed jay on the robe, and a clasp of buffalo horn.
There were, however, slight modifications from time to time prescribed and finally the law permitted the use of colored glass as a substitute for the more precious jewels. Also the mounting for the hat button varied in their construction.
The hat ornament was about two inches high and from one to one and one fourth inches in diameter. It was held tightly to the headgear by means of a threaded brass rod which was capped with a sixteen point filigree washer-like disc of brass, that went through the jewel and three more brass filigree discs.
Inside the hat was a plain metal disc threaded and padded with silk or other suitable material. Into this plain disc, the brass rod was threaded and thus the jewel was held securely. Sometimes the brass filigree discs were washed in gold.
On each hat, a large lock of red hair taken from the abdomen of the water-ox, flows from the insertion of the button into the apex of the hat. The accompanying pictures are authentic reproductions of the hat ornament or jewel.
The hat, with ornament attached and old print of Cap Vendor’s Shop, you will note, shop is decorated with lanterns and emblems of the trade and inscriptions. Thus setting forth the integrity of the long line of occupants and the quality of goods sold at this shop.
These sentiments are expressed in characters of gold on tablets. You will note the shop is entirely open with only a little railing; partly for protection, but chiefly for ornament and architectural finish.
It is uncertain just when these Mandarin hat buttons came into use as handles on small enameled bells. Possible near the end of the Chin Dynasty or about the turn of the [twentieth] century. No doubt, the Chinese saw the possibility of exporting them.
There is very little printed concerning these bells, consequently it required a lot of research. These bells are porcelain over a base metal, not cloisonné, in many colors and designs on the bell itself; making a most colorful collection. The average hat-button bell is about 4 inches high over-all, the bell is about 2 inches high excluding the button (or ball) and filigree discs, and approximate 2 ¾ inches in diameter. The clapper is a colored glass bead, suspended by a wire or fine chain.
The bell sketches are from the Berenice and Albert DuBois collection. (Bell Tower) Our thanks also to Hobbies Magazine, Miss Lois Springer, and Cleveland Public Library, and Berenice DuBois, of Sprakers, N.Y.
Note: The caption under the the picture of the hat button reads, "This Mandarin Hat ornament is two inches tall and one and one-fourth inches across. The plain lower plate fits inside of hat, the small threaded brass rod fastened to it goes through hole in top of hat, then passes through four layers of sixteen pointed brass filigree, gold washed stars, and then through the blue ball. A small engraved brass plate, also threaded, is the key which holds the whole object tightly in place on top of the headgear."