NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE TWO-PART BELT HOOK WITH CHAINS
NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH CENTURY BC
Each half of the ensemble is in the form of a feline, its head turned to look at the other as it crouches on a bar formed by the rigid body of a serpent which has two loops below from which are suspended linked chains. The extended tail of one feline terminates in a bird's head hook, and each has a small stud projecting from the back. Together with a similarly dated bronze feline-form belt hook, which is cast as a feline crouching on two serpents with pebbled bodies, the one issuing from the mouth of the feline biting the tail of the other as it bites the feline's tail. The hook is formed by an animal gripping the closest serpent in its jaws and claws. A small stud projects from the back and a single loop extends from the bottom of the rear serpent.
2 7/8 and 2 ¼ (7.3 and 5.7 cm.) wide; 4 in. (10.2 cm.) wide

Provenance

Tiger belt-hook: Christie's New York, 10 December 1987, lot 9.
Pair with chains: Dr. Ping Yiu Tam Collection, Hong Kong.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993.
All: The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida.

Lot Essay

The two-part belt fastener is similar to one lacking chains illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1989, pl. 231. See, also, the similar example illustrated by J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D. C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, pp. 175-76, no. 102, which was subsequently sold at Christie's New York, 16 March 2017, lot 828.

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