Page 89 - Chiense Silver and Gold, 2012, J.J. Lally, New York

41. A Gold Hairpin (C h a i )
Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1279)

with long slender twin tines, the conjoined upper section richly ornamented with leafy sprays
and various flowers including lotus, peony, prunus and aster, all in high relief and with chased
details, crowned by an oval chrysanthemum flowerhead with ring-punched center and two tiers of
radiating petals.
Length 7 inches (17.8 cm)

A very similar gold hairpin discovered in a Song dynasty hoard of gold and silver at Pengzhou city, near Chengdu in Sichuan
province in 1993, is illustrated in the excavation report, Sichuan Pengzhou Song dai jinyinqi jiao cang (The Song Dynasty Gold
and Silver Hoard from Pengzhou in Sichuan), Beijing, 2003, col. pl. 7-1, and as a line drawing on p. 12, no. 12-5.
A pair of similar gold hairpins unearthed in 1975 from a Song dynasty tomb at Linjiang, Zhangshu city, Jiangxi province, is
illustrated in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji, Zhongguo jin yin boli falang qi quanji (Illustrated Classification of Chinese Art,
Chinese Gold, Silver, Glass, and Cloisonné), Vol. II, Gold and Silver (II), Shijiazhuang, 2004, p. 117, no. 211.
A pair of gold hairpins from the Mengdiexuan collection is illustrated by White, Bunker, and Chen in Adornment for Eternity:
Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver, 1994, p. 184, no. 96, where the authors mention similar silver hairpins
excavated from a Southern Song tomb in a suburb of Fuzhou, Fujian province, illustrated in Wenwu, 1977, No. 7, p. 10,
no. 29. Two gold hairpins of this type are illustrated in Celestial Creations, Art of the Chinese Goldsmith: The Cheng Xun Tang
Collection, Vol. I, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 184–185, no. D03, and three smaller gold hairpins in the Muwen Tang Collection are
illustrated by Kwan in Chinese Gold Ornaments, Hong Kong, 2003, pp. 396–397, no. 242.
宋 筒花金釵 長 17.8 厘米

42. A P air of Gold Dragon-Fish Earrings
Liao Dynasty (A.D. 907–1125)
each in the form of a leaping fish with crested dragon’s head and raised fan-shaped tail, with a
“pearl of wisdom” attached beneath the chin, hollow-cast in two parts joined at a longitudinal
seam and with numerous irregular apertures on both sides and along the belly, with turquoise
bosses held by small pegs in several places, the body of the fish finely engraved with linear details
and punched ornament all over, and with a long wire hook emerging from the jaws to allow for
suspension from the ear, showing a pale orangey-red surface patina and remains of encrusted
earth from burial.

Height 1 ⁄8 inches (4.8 cm)
7
Compare the similar gold openwork dragon-fish earring inset with turquoise, from the tomb of Yelü Yuzhi, dated by epitaph
to the fourth year of the Huitong reign of the Liao dynasty (A.D. 941) excavated in 1992 at Alukeerqin Banner, Inner
Mongolia, illustrated in Qidan wangchao: Nei Menggu Liao dai wenwu jinghua, (Qidan Empire: Treasures of the Liao Dynasty
from Inner Mongolia), Beijing, 2002, p. 132.
The dragon-fish earring from Yelü Yuzhi’s tomb was also illustrated by Shen (ed.) in the catalogue of the special exhibition
organized by the Asia Society, Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China’s Liao Empire (907–1125), New York, 2006, pp. 150–151,
no. 25, together with a pair of gold dragon earrings of this type, loc. cit., no. 26a-b. Compare also the gold earring of similar
form in the Mengdiexuan Collection, included in the 1994 exhibition at the Denver Art Museum and illustrated by White,
Bunker and Chen in the catalogue, Adornment for Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver, 1994, p. 158, no. 71.
遼 摩羯形金耳墜一對 高 4.8 厘米