Object: Garment hook with masks and disk with raised uniform curls S1987.436

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Gilt bronze with turquoise, glass, and jade (nephrite) inlay

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 14.2 x 5.8 x 2.9 cm (5 9/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 1/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.436

: 獸面紋和凸面規則谷紋帶鉤
東周戰國時期（公元前475-221年）
中國
鎏金青銅鑲綠松石、琉璃和軟玉
高5.8、寬14.2、厚2.9釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.436

Description: The gilded and sharply convoluted surface of this lute shaped belt hook portrays a dragon with a large lupine head and spiral horns facing the dragon head hook. Turquoise accents its eyes and forehead. A smaller raptorlike head, its sharp beak as if gripping the gilded frame for the pale, yellowish white jade ring in the center, occupies the opposite end. Turquoise cabochons are inlaid into its forehead and cheeks. In its claws are the twisted hindquarters of two does, whose heads appear on opposite sides of the jade ring. Turquoise also accents each doe’s head. A rusty brown, blue, and white glass bead fills the perforated center of the jade. The thick gold cover wraps around the edge of the belt hook on to the underside. The button is missing.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jenny F. So, November 1995) The Subject is changed from "garment hook" to "belt hook." The Date is changed from "3rd to 2nd centuries BCE" to "late 4th to early 3rd century BCE."
2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 22, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, October 20, 2010) Object Name changed from "Belt hook (dai gou 帶鉤)" to "Garment hook"; Title changed from "Belt hook (dai gou 帶鉤)" to "Garment hook (daigou 帶鉤) with dragon and raptor heads, and two deer"; Period changed from "Han 漢 dynasty" to "Late Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty"; added Period Two "Late Warring States period."
4. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, July 11, 2022) Medium changed from "Gilt cast bronze, inaid with turquoise, jade, and glass" to "Gilt bronze with turquoise, glass, and jade (nephrite) inlay."
5. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, March 28, 2023) Title changed from "Garment hook (daigou) with dragon and raptor heads, and two deer" to "Garment hook with masks and disk with raised uniform curls"; Period One changed from "Late Eastern Zhou dynasty" to "Eastern Zhou dynasty"; Period Two changed from "Late Warring States period to "Warring States period"; Date changed from "ca. late 4th-early 3rd century BCE" to "475–221 BCE"; and added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

John Johnston, Chan Lai Pik. 5000 Years of Chinese Jade. Exh. cat. San Antonio, Texas, 2011. cat. 38, p. 73.
Jenny F. So, Emma C. Bunker. Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier. Exh. cat. Seattle, 1995. cat. 75, pp. 153-154.
et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 162, p. 245.
Robert K. Liu. Chinese Warring States Glazed Beads: Unusual Faience Ornaments of the Zhou Dynasty. vol. 28, no. 4 Los Angeles, 2006. p. 60.

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Garment hook with masks and disk with raised uniform curls

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