NAILING IT!
Nail art is a fashionable way of adding colour to your life, though in Imperial China the designs could be quite elaborate
Nail protectors like this one, made of silver with coral and turquoise, were popular amongst women of the elite in Qing dynasty China. The fashion was that nails should be as long as possible, almost impractically so – talons were a clear sign that the bearer had no need to perform manual labour – and nail guards like this would protect their prestigious claws from damage. Empress Dowager Cixi, who controlled the Chinese government from 1861 to 1908, was said to cover her three-inch nails with spiked protectors to enhance her appearance as a ferocious ruler.