# Aigrette > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aigrette > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aigrette.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigrette > Source revision: 1329717281 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Tufted crest of an egret}} {{for|ships with this name|French ship Aigrette}} thumb|upright=0.75|Aigrette on a hat The term '''aigrette''' ({{IPA|en|eɪɡrɛt|pron}}; from the [French](/source/French_language) for [egret](/source/egret), or ''lesser white heron'') refers to the tufted crest or head-plumes of the egret, used for adorning a headdress. The word may also identify any similar ornament, in [gem](/source/Gemstone)s. ==History and description== thumb|upright|Marie-Antoinette with aigrette Aigrettes, studded with diamonds and rubies, decorated the [turban](/source/turban)s of [Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_Empire) sultans or the ceremonial [chamfron](/source/chamfron) of their horses. Several of these aigrettes are on display in the Treasury of the [Topkapı Palace](/source/Topkap%C4%B1_Palace) in [Istanbul](/source/Istanbul), Turkey. An aigrette was also formerly worn by certain ranks of officers in the [French army](/source/French_army).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=436}} Jewelled aigrettes and "diamond feathers" worn at the English court of [James VI and I](/source/James_VI_and_I) and [Anne of Denmark](/source/Anne_of_Denmark) are associated with the goldsmith [Arnold Lulls](/source/Arnold_Lulls) whose book of designs still survives.John Hayward, 'The Arnold Lulls Book of Jewels and the Court Jewellers of Anne of Denmark', ''Archaeologia'', 108 (1986), pp. 228-9. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries a [fad](/source/fad) in women's fashion for wearing extravagant and fanciful aigrettes resulted in large numbers of egrets and other birds being slaughtered by [plume hunters](/source/plume_hunting) for the [millinery](/source/hatmaking) industry, until public reaction and government intervention caused the fad to end and demand for such plumes collapse. The 61.50 carat (12.3 g) whiskey-coloured diamond, "The Eye of the Tiger", was mounted by [Cartier](/source/Cartier_SA) in a turban aigrette for the ''[Jam Sahib](/source/Jam_Sahib)'' or [Maharajah](/source/Maharajah) of [Nawanagar](/source/Nawanagar_State) in 1934.{{cite web|url=http://www.royal-magazin.de/india/eye-of-the-tiger.htm|title=Eye of the Tiger Hat-Jewel - Aigrette des Maharadschas von Nawanagar|website=Royal Magazin|ref={{sfnref | Royal Magazin}}|access-date=21 February 2016}} The yellow 137.27 carat [Florentine Diamond](/source/Florentine_Diamond) was last set as a part of an aigrette. ==Similarly shaped objects== thumb|Sketch of an aigrette, showing plumes anchored on the top of a decorative headpiece. The word ''aigrette'' is used to describe several things with a similar shape. It is the name given to a type of deep-fried fritter made of batter in an elongated shape.See ''The Marshall Cavendish handbook of Good Cooking''. By analogy the word is used in various sciences for feathery excrescences of like appearance, as for the tufts on the heads of [insects](/source/insects), the feathery down of the [dandelion](/source/dandelion), the luminous rays at the end of electrified bodies, or the luminous rays—seen in [solar eclipses](/source/solar_eclipses)—diverging from the moon's edge.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=436}} The [Chelengk](/source/Chelengk) and [Sarpech](/source/Sarpech) were similar Turkish military decoration. ==References== {{wiktionary}} {{Commons category}} {{reflist}} *{{EB1911|wstitle=Aigrette|volume=1 |page=436}} Category:Headgear Category:Feathers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Aigrette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigrette) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigrette?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.