Hairpin
618-906 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Chinese women of the Tang dynasty (618-907) were highly fashion-conscious. They wore wigs which they manipulated into the most complicated hair-dos. They painted their faces with rouge and powder and wore all sorts of jewellery, including hairpins such as this pair. They led a very active life, hunting and playing polo with their men-friends and relatives. All these activities were to disappear when foot-binding was introduced at the end of the dynasty.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Silver, beaten and gilt |
| Brief description | Pair of Tang dynasty (618-906AD) Chinese hairpins with gilt phoenix heads. |
| Physical description | Pair of silver hairpins with gilt heads. Flat and cut from sheet metal, double-pronged, the heads representing two phoenixes above clouds. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Acquired from the Eumorfopoulos collection with the aid of The Art Fund |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Chinese women of the Tang dynasty (618-907) were highly fashion-conscious. They wore wigs which they manipulated into the most complicated hair-dos. They painted their faces with rouge and powder and wore all sorts of jewellery, including hairpins such as this pair. They led a very active life, hunting and playing polo with their men-friends and relatives. All these activities were to disappear when foot-binding was introduced at the end of the dynasty. |
| Bibliographic reference | Whitfield, Susan. The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. London: The British Library, 2004, p. 242, pl. 181a & b.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.64&A-1935 |
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| Record created | July 5, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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