A hardstone and turquoise-inlaid gilt-silver 'mythical creature' belt hook, Western...
Property from an Important Japanese Collection
A hardstone and turquoise-inlaid gilt-silver 'mythical creature' belt hook,
Western Han dynasty
日本顯赫收藏
西漢 銀鎏金嵌寶異獸紋帶鉤
12.5 cm
Condition Report:
The belt hook is in good overall condition with expected nicks to the extremities, especially the left ear of the beast. There are also expected losses to the inlays as visible in the catalogue photo.
品相整體良好，唯邊沿見輕磕，尤其瑞獸左耳，屬正常。圖錄可見，嵌寶有缺損，屬正常。
Catalogue Note:
This exquisite belt hook captures a mythical creature in motion, pouncing delicately onto its front paws. Although belt hooks in the shape of animals had become a fairly common luxury by the Han dynasty, pieces of this form with elaborate inlay in hardstone are quite rare. The use of inlay here is particularly striking in its accentuation of the hare’s contorted form. Compare a related belt hook with jade inlay in a more common dragon form, illustrated in Inlaid Bronze and Related Material from Pre-Tang China, Eskenazi, London, 1991, cat. no. 50. Not only do animals of this hare-like shape rarely feature on belt hooks, creatures of any kind are seldom presented with such natural dynamism. See a related piece without inlay, of bovine form, illustrated in Chinese Agraffes in Two Swedish Collections, B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1966, pl. 61, fig. O7.
Provenance:
Gisèle Croës, Brussels, June 1996.
吉賽爾，布魯塞爾，1996年6月
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Property from an Important Japanese Collection
A hardstone and turquoise-inlaid gilt-silver 'mythical creature' belt hook,
Western Han dynasty
日本顯赫收藏
西漢 銀鎏金嵌寶異獸紋帶鉤
12.5 cm
Condition Report:
The belt hook is in good overall condition with expected nicks to the extremities, especially the left ear of the beast. There are also expected losses to the inlays as visible in the catalogue photo.
品相整體良好，唯邊沿見輕磕，尤其瑞獸左耳，屬正常。圖錄可見，嵌寶有缺損，屬正常。
Catalogue Note:
This exquisite belt hook captures a mythical creature in motion, pouncing delicately onto its front paws. Although belt hooks in the shape of animals had become a fairly common luxury by the Han dynasty, pieces of this form with elaborate inlay in hardstone are quite rare. The use of inlay here is particularly striking in its accentuation of the hare’s contorted form. Compare a related belt hook with jade inlay in a more common dragon form, illustrated in Inlaid Bronze and Related Material from Pre-Tang China, Eskenazi, London, 1991, cat. no. 50. Not only do animals of this hare-like shape rarely feature on belt hooks, creatures of any kind are seldom presented with such natural dynamism. See a related piece without inlay, of bovine form, illustrated in Chinese Agraffes in Two Swedish Collections, B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1966, pl. 61, fig. O7.
Provenance:
Gisèle Croës, Brussels, June 1996.
吉賽爾，布魯塞爾，1996年6月
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Time, Location
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