Page 142 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

131 A RARE PAIR OF PARCEL-GILT SILVER ‘PHOENIX’ HAIRPINS
TANG DYNASTY
唐 銀局部鎏金透空鏨花鳳凰紋釵一對

of thin silver sheet, each composed of a double-pronged pin terminating in a broad leaf-shaped finial, the openwork design
worked in mirror image each depicting a phoenix in flight, grasping between its beaks a ribbon-tied knot, amid dense foliage
scrolls, the details finely engraved (2)

Length 12⅞ in., 32.7 cm
$ 10,000-15,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Frank Caro, successor to C.T. Loo, New York, 29th 弗蘭克•卡羅（盧芹齋繼任人），紐約，1954年10月29日
October 1954. 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Hairpins of this type represent the luxurious elegance which characterized Tang nobility. Tang court ladies delighted
in such ornamental hairpins that were fashioned out of beaten silver. This was a practical way of reducing the weight
of the hairpin and to allow it to quiver slightly when the lady moved creating an effect of shimmering richness. The art
of hairstyling, which became increasingly elaborate and sophisticated, played a key role in the social life of the court
ladies.

See a closely related hairpin, in the Royal Ontario Museum collection, Toronto, illustrated in Homage to Heaven,
Homage to Earth, Toronto, 1992, pl. 127. Other related hairpins include a pair in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in Tangdai jinyin qi [Gold and silver wares from the Tang dynasty], Beijing, 1985, pls 266-7; one from the
Pierre Uldry Collection, decorated with birds and flowers, exhibited in Chinesische Gold und Silber. Die Sammling
Pierre Uldry, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 219; and a third, formerly in the collection of Carl Kempe, sold in
our London rooms, 14th May 2008, lot 52.

此類髮釵極盡盛唐之雍容典雅，尤得仕女鍾愛。以銀片捶 127。另有一例，現藏北京故宮博物院，收錄於《唐代金
製，髮釵遂輕。每當仕女輕移蓮步，髮釵微顫，光彩奪 銀器》，北京，1985年，圖版266-7；於Pierre Uldry
目，珊珊可愛。綰髮配簪釵之藝，於宮中女眷亦甚為重 收藏亦見一例，飾以花鳥紋，展於《Chinesische Gold
要。 und Silber. Die Sammling Pierre Uldry》，雷特伯
格博物館，蘇黎士，1994年，編號219；此外，仍有一
見一類例，藏於皇家安大略博物館，收錄於《Homage to 例，Carl Kempe 舊藏，售於倫敦蘇富比2008年5月14
Heaven, Homage to Earth》，多倫多，1992年，圖版
日，編號52。

140 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA