A pair of shears, with steel blades and hinged damascened gilt metal and steel handles, decorated with foliage and flowerheads; the finial of the first set with diamonds, of the second with rubies.

These shears, and the combs which were presented with them (RCIN 62116), are princely examples of items used for the Sokan or tonsure ceremony which all Siamese boys underwent between the ages of eleven and thirteen.  During the ceremony, the topknot of their hair was cropped to mark the transition to manhood. King Mongkut's own tonsure ceremony took place in 1817 and lasted seven days.