Ordornment for hats in portraits

[DonaCatalina]

Check out this painting of Count Chistoph I of Baden. He looks like he has threaded a cord on this hat through several finger rings with black pearls.

http://s1c2.walanwalan.com/pic/photo/sc/eb75/faef/5f3a/6fd9.jpg/showah.jpg

[operafantomet]

Well, what can a man do when all the fingers are already covered? He's gotta put all his rings somewhere!

(I don't know if this is the case, as his hands are not depicted... just kidding)

Very cool detail, thanks for sharing!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Who would have thought??

Very cool idea.

[DonaCatalina]

This one of Prince Ottheinrich has always amused me. It looks like he threw a lady's necklace on top just to have more jewels in the portrait.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Barthel_Beham_001.jpg

[isabelladangelo]

Germany is a special place.  :-)   Some of the ladies hardware is just as peculiar.  Like the completely spangled headdress from 1600.   It looks like something from the 1970's made for a rock star more than something from the late 16th/early 17th century.

[Rowan MacD]

This one of Prince Ottheinrich has always amused me. It looks like he threw a lady's necklace on top just to have more jewels in the portrait.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Barthel_Beham_001.jpg

I've never seen that 'dog collar' style of neckwear before...cool.   

  It looks very similar to some jeweled collars made of real gold I saw in a gold souk in Saudi Arabia, in a shop very much like this one: http://www.dubai-livethedream.com/gold-souk.html