Martha Washington and her daughter Martha "Patsy" Custis placed four orders for garnet hair ornaments between 1759 and 1772. This bow of flowers was likely among the items received. Hair pins were worn in the forward section of a lady's elaborately piled coiffure, where they sparkled dynamically in the candlelight. As garnet jewelry remained popular throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, few pieces survive in their original state. This ornament was later altered into a brooch, possibly by, Martha Custis Peter, who inherited her aunt's garnet jewelry.