Page 45 - 2020 September 21 Elegant Embellishment the RenLu Colelction, Bonham NYC

347

347
A PAIR OF GOLD ‘DRAGON’ HAIRPINS, TONGZAN
Qing dynasty
The head of each dynamic dragon rendered in intricate pierced work
and delicate wiring, and crowned with a silver-gray pearl between a
pair of scrolling horns, its hollowed, elongated body serving as the pin,
executed in a repetitive openwork pattern.
5 3/4in (14.7cm) long (2).
US$5,000 - 7,000

清 纍絲龍首紋金通簪一對

Simon Kwan and Sun Ji suggest in Chinese Gold Ornaments (Hong
Kong: Muwen Tang Fine Art Publication Ltd., 2003) that openwork
‘dragon’ hairpins with hollowed shaft were fashionable during the Ming
and Qing dynasties. This hairpin style is known as tongzan (p. 564).
For further discussion and illustrated examples of this type, refer to
Zhongguo Gudai Jinyin Shoushi, Yang Zhishui (Beijing: Gugong, 2014),
vol. 3, pp. 828-829.

Compare also, related examples in Celestial Creations, Art of the
Chinese Goldsmith, The Cheng Xun Tang Collection Part 11 (Art
Museum, The Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University,
Hong Kong. 2007), pp. 572–573, no. H29, and in Collection of Beijing
Capital Museum (Beijing 2004), pl. 272. 347 (detail)

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