Lot 807
807
A LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE BELT HOOK
A LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE BELT HOOK
A LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE BELT HOOK
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A LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE BELT HOOK

WARRING STATES PERIOD, 5TH-4TH CENTURY BC

Details
A LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE BELT HOOK
WARRING STATES PERIOD, 5TH-4TH CENTURY BC
The arched shaft is finely inlaid in gold and silver with pairs of intertwined dragons. The slender neck is inlaid with a chilong below the hook formed by a small dragon head with details picked out in silver inlay. The reverse is set with two buttons decorated with geometric designs.
9 ½ in. (23.6 cm.) long, Japanese fitted wood box
Provenance
Dr. Natanael Wessén Collection, Stockholm, before 1954.
Private collection, Japan.
Kochukyo, Tokyo, 2012.
Literature
Jean-Pierre Dubosc, Arte Cinese; Catalogo della mostra Venezia, Venice, 1954, no. 114.
Bernard Karlgren, “Bronzes in the Wessén Collection,“ Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 30, Stockholm, 1958, pl. 33.
Bernard Karlgren, “Chinese Agraffes in Two Swedish Collections”, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 38, Stockholm, 1966, pl. 39 (center).
Chügoku Sengoku Jidai no Bijutsu (Chinese Art of the Warring States Period), Osaka, 1991, p. 111, no. 172.
Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring, 2013, no. 37.
Exhibited
Venice, Arte Cinese, 1954.
New York, Kaikodo, 2013.

Brought to you by

Vicki Paloympis (潘薇琦)
Vicki Paloympis (潘薇琦) Head of Department, VP, Specialist
+1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay


The present belt hook is exceptional for its large size, heavy weight, and fine quality of the inlaid decoration. A smaller gold and silver-inlaid belt hook, also decorated with intertwined dragons, is illustrated by B. Karlgren, ‘Chinese Agaffes in Two Swedish Collection,’ Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 38, Stockholm, 1966, pl. 39. Compare, also, the faceted bronze belt hook decorated in gold and silver inlay with similarly rendered intertwined dragons, illustrated by J. M. White and E. C. Bunker in the catalogue for the exhibition, Adornment for Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver Art Museum, 1994, p. 189, no. 101.

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