A CHINESE WHITE JADE HAIRPIN

QIANLONG/JIAQING

Carved in openwork with an oval panel depicting two beauties and two gentlemen standing by a building amidst scrolling foliage, with an ear pick to one end, the pale stone of an even tone, 20.8cm.

Cf. The National Palace Museum, Shenyang Palace Museum & Cartier Collection, Royal Style: Qing Dynasty and Western Court Jewellery, p.124, no.I-2-64 for a comparable jade hairpin pierced with flowers; see also Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade, vol.9, p.266, no.269 for another related jade hairpin.