.jpg?w=1)
NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH CENTURY BC
Details
TWO BRONZE 'ANIMAL' OPENWORK BELT HOOKS
NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH CENTURY BC
One inlaid in turquoise has a long-necked hook that issues from the mouth of a dragon, its openwork body curved around to form one side while the other side is formed by an animal biting the neck of the dragon, a loop projecting from the edge of this animal suspends a linked chain, and a button is on the reverse. The other is cast as three animals, two shown recumbent facing in opposite directions, the uppermost with the head of a smaller animal in its jaws. A hook projects from one edge and a button is on the reverse.
3 3/8 and 2 7/8 in. (8.7 and 7.2 cm.) wide
NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH CENTURY BC
One inlaid in turquoise has a long-necked hook that issues from the mouth of a dragon, its openwork body curved around to form one side while the other side is formed by an animal biting the neck of the dragon, a loop projecting from the edge of this animal suspends a linked chain, and a button is on the reverse. The other is cast as three animals, two shown recumbent facing in opposite directions, the uppermost with the head of a smaller animal in its jaws. A hook projects from one edge and a button is on the reverse.
3 3/8 and 2 7/8 in. (8.7 and 7.2 cm.) wide
Provenance
The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1995.
Literature
J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, p. 173, fig. 99.1 (hook) and p. 176, no. 103 (hook with chain).