Object: Garment hook with dragons and mask F1946.8a-b

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Western Han dynasty, 206 BCE-9 CE

Object Date: 206 BCE-9 CE

Medium: Gilt bronze with jade

Dimension(s): H x W: 19.9 x 2.1 cm (7 13/16 x 13/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1946.8a-b

: 龍紋和獸面紋帶鉤
西漢（公元前206-公元9年）
中國
鎏金青銅鑲玉
高22、寬4.4、厚2.6釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物編號：F1946.8a-b

Provenance: From at least 1933
Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871–1941), New York, NY, and The Chimneys, Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island, from at least 1933. [1]

From at least 1944 to 1946
Tonying and Company, New York, NY, from at least February 4, 1944. [2]

From 1946
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York, NY, on February 18, 1946. [3]

Notes:

[1] See Umehara Sueji, Shina kodo Seikwa, Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America: Part III Miscellaneous Objects, vol. 1 (Osaka: Yamanaka and Co., 1933), pl. 69. Mrs. Holmes lent the object to the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in London in 1935–36, see Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, exh. cat. (London: Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935–March 7, 1936), cat. 571 (ill.).

[2] The bronze is included on List of Objects Contemplated for Purchase by the Freer Gallery of Art, approved by C. G. Abbot, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, on February 4, 1944, copy in object file.

[3] See Tonying and Company’s invoice, dated February 18, 1946, in which the bronze figures under no. B 59: Gilt Bronze Buckle, inlaid with green jade, dragon decoration on both sides / Han, copy in object file. See also Archibald Gibson Wenley’s letter to C. F. Yau, Tonying and Co., New York, NY, dated February 15, 1946, copy in object file, in which Wenley confirms the acquisition of the bronze for the Freer Gallery’s collection.

Previous owner(s): Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)
Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Tonying and Company 通運公司, INC, New York, NY. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Formerly in the Collection of Mrs. Christian R. Holmes, New York.
3. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
4. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, May 6, 2010) Title changed from "Gilt bronze garment hook of dragon form; back inlaid with ten pieces of gray white to greenish jade" to "Garment hook (gou 鉤)"; Object Name from "Garment hook" t o "Jewelry." Added "Jade and bronze with gilding" to Medium description.
5. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Medium changed to "Bronze, gilded with jade inlay" based on conservation analysis.
6. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, March 15, 2011) Object Name changed from "Jewelry" to "Garment hook."
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, May 1, 2012) Western Han 漢 dynasty, 206 BCE--8 CE. Gilt bronze with jade. Title changed to "Garment hook (daigou 帶鉤) with dragons and taotie."
8. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, March 28, 2023) Title changed from "Garment hook (daigou) with dragons and taotie" to "Garment hook with dragons and mask"; Date changed from "206 BCE-8 CE" to "206 BCE-9 CE"; and added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

Alfred Salmony. Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty. New York, 1963. cat. 4, pl. 17.
Sekai bijutsu zenshu [A Complete Collection of World Art]. 40 vols., Tokyo, F1951-1953. cat. 99-100, vol. 2.

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Garment hook with dragons and mask

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