Hair Ornament, one of a pair

These beautiful hairpins are decorated with imaginative floral blossoms intricately fashioned from gold sheet wire hammered, incised, and soldered together. On each pin is a double overlapping prunus blossom within a six-petal wire flower with five thin serrated-edged leaves. The floral style derives from Tang dynasty (618-906) gold and silver hair ornaments, which were popular with the aristocracy. Upper-class women of Tang, Song (960-1279), and Liao (916-1125) required a variety of hair combs and pins to maintain the elaborate hairstyles that were fashionable. A number of gold broaches and hairpins similar in style and technique to these have been excavated from Liao tombs.