Live Auction 2297Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections
A GOLD HAIRPIN
Lot 1293

A GOLD HAIRPIN

YUAN/MING DYNASTY, 13TH-17TH CENTURY

Closed26 March 2010

Price Realised

USD 3,000

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A GOLD HAIRPIN
YUAN/MING DYNASTY, 13TH-17TH CENTURY
The flat pin made from thin beaten gold sheet tapering towards one end and cut at the other with four slender stamen that rise above the applied, chased peony flower, the pin finely stippled on the front with a fine scroll and on the back with a three-character inscription that may be read, Qiong Xi Gu
5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) long, fitted box
Wt. 5.8 g.

Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Specialist note

The inscription, Qiong Xi Gu, may refer to a specific person. The decoration of a finely stippled scroll can also be seen on the flat prong of a gold hairpin unearthed from a Ming dynasty tomb outside Zhonghu Gate, Nanjing, illustrated in Jewelry and Costumes of Ming Dynasty, Nanjing Municipal Museum, 2000, p. 89. Another gold hairpin excavated from a Ming dynasty tomb outside Nanjing illustrated ibid., p. 78, also has a separately made flower attached to the flat pin.

A Technical Examination Report is available upon request.