Page 28 - 2020 September 21 Elegant Embellishment the RenLu Colelction, Bonham NYC

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322
A GOLD ‘DRAGON’ AIRPIN, CHAI
Yuan dynasty
The two-tined hairpin molded and chased with two coiled dragons
topped with a flower blossom, the shafts hammered flat.
5 1/2in (14cm) long

US$3,000 - 4,000

元 卷龍紋金钗一件

Compare two very similar gold hairpins excavated from a Yuan
dynasty tomb belonged to the Huang Family in Yuanling, Hunan
province, illustrated in Zhongguo Gudai Jinyin Shoushi, Yang Zhishui
(Beijing: Gugong, 2014), vol. 1, p. 152, pl. 4.3.1 & 4.3.2.

See also gold hairpins cast and chased with a twisted dragon design,
illustrated in Radiant Legacy, Ancient Gold from the Mendexuan
Collection, Jenny F. So (Hong Kong: The Chinese University, 2013),
vol. 3, p.113, pl. C & D, as well as in Adornment for Eternity by Julia
M. White and Emma C. Bunker (Denver Art Museum, 1994), p. 192,
pl. 105, where the authors note that the “twisted gilt hairpins of this
two-tined type have also been found in Inner Mongolia and appear to
belong to a type that originated in the north and was brought to the
south during the Yuan dynasty.” (p. 192).

322 (detail)

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