Beads, wire, fastenings, tourmalated quartz beads, coral beads, faux pearl beads, a feather, ribbon and thread. 

Inspiration:

“I pictured the mandarins with their high caps, and the ladies with their tiny feet, when in the middle of the night the wind shifted, and on the 7th of July we had been carried back 115 miles. In addition to this, the glass fell so low, that we dreaded a Tai-foon, which is a very dangerous kind of storm, or rather hurricane, that is very frequent in the Chinese sea during the months of July, August, and September. It is generally first announced by a black cloud on the horizon, with one edge dark red, and the other half-white; and this is accompanied by the most awful torrents of rain, by thunder, lightning, and the violent winds, which arise simultaneously on all sides, and lash the waters up mountains high.”

CHAPTER VII. THE VOYAGE FROM VALPARAISO TO CANTON VIA TAHITI. -  A Woman’s Journey round the World by Ida Laura Phieffer, 1850