Gold cylindrical hairpin with floral and scroll design

The cylindrical hairpin is very popular in Song, Yuan and Qing dynasties, the whole body is hollow design. The ancient Chinese women prefers a style with heavy and long hairs, which is often very complicated and they usually come together with wig for creating different hairstyles, however, their hair will become quite muggy. Thus, the cylindrical hairpin was developed of hair cooling solutions. The cylindrical hairpin is made with gold strips incised with floral and scroll designs. Then it will be formed into the shape of a hollow megaphone. On the upper part of the body it is combined with six parts of curved gold pieces, incised with floral and scroll designs. The bottom part is incised with clear geometric patterns and carved framing, with clear layers. Flower heads are made of carved blooming flowers and the hairpin top adopted an openwork technique which benefits the air flow, and it looks refined and delicate. Influenced by the taste of the literati class, gold ornaments styles in Song dynasty often gives a feeling of elegance, purity and low-key luxurious style.