A RARE JADE BELTHOOK

Details

A RARE JADE BELTHOOK
EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY

Constructed from ten oval jade sections pierced and fitted onto an iron armature, the five broad sections encircled by slightly concave bands with crisp edges, separated by three narrow bands with short, sharp-edged flanges with upcurved tips projecting from either side, a wider band in the center carved with similar flanges, as well as a raised, faceted panel on top and a large, oval button on a stem projecting from the underside, terminating at one end in a well-carved animal mask with tightly curled ears or horns, the stone with smooth, lustrous polish now altered to a buff color with areas of iron-rust staining from the armature, cracked, hook end missing--5 3/4in. (14.6cm.) long

Lot Essay

A similarly constructed, but more elaborate jade belthook of this type unearthed with over a thousand artifacts (over two hundred jade carvings) from the Western Han tomb of the King of Nanyue, was included in the exhibition, Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991, Catalogue pls. 116-118. Compare, also, two other belthooks of this rare type in the Winthrop Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, illustrated by Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1975, nos. 472 and 473. Both have projecting flanges similar to the present example and no. 473 has similarly ribbed sections