A rare gold 'flower' hairpin


Song Dynasty Double-shafted, the upper part rising from two parallel slender tines tapering to points, cast with a floral band containing a variety of flower heads borne on leafy branches, terminating in a large double-petalled chrysanthemum flower head with finely cross-hatched oval centre, stand. 15.5cm (6 1/8in) long; 25g. weight. (2).
|The Property of a Gentleman 士紳藏品宋　金筒花釵　Provenance: Stephen K.C. Lo, Hong Kong, by reputeJean-Yves Ollivier Collection來源：據傳為香港古董商魯國銓先生舊藏歐宗易先生珍藏In the Song period, the use of gold and silver objects, which was previously reserved for the highest-ranking members of society, became less restricted despite several decrees issued by the Song Court. Several categories of personal ornaments including hairpins, combs, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and hair nets were thus newly created and decorated with designs drawn from the floral artistic repertoire of the period, which included chrysanthemums, lotus, peonies, hibiscus and cherry blossoms. Compare with a similar gold hairpin, Song dynasty, discovered in a Song dynasty hoard of gold and silver near Chengdu, Sichuan, in 1993, illustrated in The Song Dynasty Gold and Silver Hoard from Pengzhou in Sichuan, Beijing, 2003, pl.7-1. Another gold hairpin, Song dynasty, is illustrated by J.M.White and E.Bunker, Adornment for the Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver, 1994, no.96, p.184.Two similar gold hairpins, Southern Song/Yuan dynasty, were sold at Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 114.金質，釵體對折呈箸形，中空，頭部飾菊葉紋，餘身光素。有宋以來，原為顯貴門閥方能使用的金銀器，逐漸普及民間，朝廷雖數度發佈限制令，然而收效甚微。髪釵、梳子、耳環、項鏈、手鐲和髪網等幾種門類的飾物常裝飾以各式當時流行的花樣，包括菊，蓮，牡丹，木槿和梅。1993年四川成都發現的一個宋代金銀器窖藏出土一件相似的金釵可資參考，見《四川彭州宋代金銀器窖藏》，北京，2003年，圖版7-1；另可比較一件金釵，見於J.M.White 及E.Bunker著，《Adornment for the Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament（永恆的裝飾：中國裝飾的身份與等級）》，丹佛，1994年，編號96，頁184。此外，兩例稍晚時期，定為宋或元的金釵亦可參考，2008年5月14日售於倫敦蘇富比，拍品114號。