Period:Ming dynasty Production date:14thC-17thC
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, carved,
Subjects:cat (?)
Dimensions:Length: 12.60 centimetres
Description:
Hairpin of greyish white jade with inclusions and small brown vein finished to a soft polish.
IMG
![图片[1]-hair-pin BM-2022-3034.207-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Jades/396_.jpg)
Comments:The round slender tapering pin topped with a knob carved in low relief with a curled feline. The shaft similarly decorated with a feline with flowing striated mane, broad nose and clawed feet coiling round the pin with another smaller feline below. This approximately circular pin tapers to a rounded tip. At the other end it is bent slightly and has a domed head, which, like the shaft, is carved with a fine coiled feline. Hairpins have been in use in China since the Neolithic period. They were particularly prolific in the Shang, though generally made of bone. For much of the ancient period, however, hairpins were not buried, which means we have only a limited picture of their use. Pins started to appear again, this time in silver and gold, from the Six Dynasties and Tang periods; and fine openwork was obviously highly sought after. Jade hairpins were probably used at the same time, but they certainly became more common from the Ming. A popular form had a large openwork head, which other types were more restrained, like the present piece. Pins of this shape have been found in early sixteenth-century tomb in Shanghai. See Rawson 1995, p.339, cat.no.25.18.
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, carved,
Subjects:cat (?)
Dimensions:Length: 12.60 centimetres
Description:
Hairpin of greyish white jade with inclusions and small brown vein finished to a soft polish.
IMG
Comments:The round slender tapering pin topped with a knob carved in low relief with a curled feline. The shaft similarly decorated with a feline with flowing striated mane, broad nose and clawed feet coiling round the pin with another smaller feline below. This approximately circular pin tapers to a rounded tip. At the other end it is bent slightly and has a domed head, which, like the shaft, is carved with a fine coiled feline. Hairpins have been in use in China since the Neolithic period. They were particularly prolific in the Shang, though generally made of bone. For much of the ancient period, however, hairpins were not buried, which means we have only a limited picture of their use. Pins started to appear again, this time in silver and gold, from the Six Dynasties and Tang periods; and fine openwork was obviously highly sought after. Jade hairpins were probably used at the same time, but they certainly became more common from the Ming. A popular form had a large openwork head, which other types were more restrained, like the present piece. Pins of this shape have been found in early sixteenth-century tomb in Shanghai. See Rawson 1995, p.339, cat.no.25.18.
© Copyright
The copyright of the article belongs to the author, please keep the original link for reprinting.
THE END
