Material characterization revealing production models of the Late Ming silver hairpins

Abstract

The Site of Jiangkou in Pengshan, Sichuan province revealed the largest assemblage of silver artefacts ever known in China. These artefacts were collected by Zhang Xianzhong, the rebellion general of the Late Ming and Early Qing period, from Sichuan and adjacent provinces, and sunk in the Minjiang River after his failure in 1644 CE. This research focuses on silver hairpins from this assemblage and explores their production system via detailed typological investigation and material characterization. According to their style, forming techniques and material provenance, the Jiangkou hairpins can be divided into three groups corresponding with three different types of production workshops. The first group was made in independent silversmiths mainly serving non-official civilians. Metallographic analysis shows they were made with varied forming techniques, including forging, folding, casting and welding. They were alloyed with varied amount of copper. The other two types have much more standardized forming techniques and are associated with the commercial workshops capable of mass production and government institutions. The commercial workshops commonly used forging-annealing method to make their hairpins and maintained a well consistent chemical composition across their products. The silver hairpins made by government institutions were all cast into shape, suggesting a highly standardized system. This type of hairpins were mostly found in tombs of royal families and high elites. This research revealed a stratified silver production system in the Late Ming period and demonstrated the strength of material characterization in revealing production organization models.