A very rare rhinoceros horn openwork 'prunus' hairpin


17th/18th centuryThe slender shaft gently tapering to a pointed tip, the upper half intricately carved in openwork and high relief with blooming plum branches and buds, the horn ranging from a warm golden honey tone darkening to a walnut tone at the tip, box. 20.5cm (8in) long (2).
|十七/十八世紀 犀角雕梅花簪Provenance: Songzhutang Collection, USAngela Chua Collection, Hong Kong來源：松竹堂收藏香港蔡劉木蘭女士收藏Hairpins carved from rhinoceros horn are very rare and would have required a horn of considerable size and length. Compare a shorter hairpin also carved with plum branches in the collection of Shanghai Museum, 17th century, illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p.246, no.184.See also a similar rhinoceros horn hairpin from the Songzhutang Collection, which was sold at Christie's Paris, 14 December 2010, lot 1829.相關犀角簪之例，可參考上海博物院藏一件十七世紀梅花簪，著錄於霍滿棠，《中國犀角雕刻珍賞》，香港，1999年，頁246，編號184。巴黎佳士得亦曾售出一犀角雕梅花簪可資參考，十七/十八世紀，2010年12月14日，拍品1829。