Timeless source of inspiration: The moon in relics (5)

Gold and Jade Rabbit earring with gemstone inlays, Ming Tombs Museum

Excavated from the Imperial Ding Tomb in Beijing, this earring was discovered among the belongings left inside the grave of Ming Dynasty Empress Xiaojing of the Wanli Emperor. This pair of earrings features a Jade Rabbit making medicine, a traditional mythical animal in China associated with the moon.

The empress, who never knew true love nor received the genuine affection of the emperor, had suffered from loneliness all her life, so wearing such earrings might be a sign of the hope she still had that she might not be lonely in the afterlife after being laid to rest forever in her cold, dark tomb.