Dimensions: 1/2"H x 2-3/4"L 19th C. The good example of the rare Ancient Arts of Chinese Hornbill carving. Antique pieces of a "golden jade", also to be called "crane's-head" (HeDing), open-work carved recumbent shape of gourd abundant interspersed by overlapping stem and tendrils.The color are beautiful to the eyes; the hornbill pendants shows masterly hand carved, smooth, and beautiful golden yellow interior with bright red tints to the surface of the casque.:The hornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese valued hornbill above jade. They carved the casques, or made them into sheets, colored them with the secretion of the preen gland, and made them into belt buckles for high officials. They called HeDing, which is said to be their approximation of an indigenous name (but means "crane head", and thus many Chinese thought the substance came from a crane rather than a hornbill).