Garment hook

1. Bought from Abel William Bahr, New York, NY. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 166.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: T'ang [Tang] 唐. See further, S.I. 756, Appendix VII.

3. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty, Ch'ien Lung [Qianlong] 乾隆.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.952.

5. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

6. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Ch'ing [Qing] 清, Ch'ien lung [Qianlong] 乾隆 period to Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周, Warring States  Period. See Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975), no. 468.

7. (Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222  B.C. [Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1982], cat. no. 115) The quadrilateral garment hook has a curved stem that ends in a tersely modeled animal head. The abstract forms are enhanced by the contrast between the slightly beveled  edges, raised horns, and curved animal muzzle. The heavy rectangular button projects from the back of the  garment hook. Particularly attractive is the striated white and gray pattern of the nephrite.

Two jade garment hooks of this general shape, although longer, are illustrated as having been found at  Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村, near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [1] In 1972 a jade garment hook of this type was unearthed in a Warring  States period tomb at Bei-ling Sung shan [Beiling Songshan] 北嶺松山, Kwangtung [Guangdong] 廣東 province. [2]

Jade hooks appear to have been made in China as early as those fashioned of bronze. A jade hook was found among the more than 50 pieces of different types of jade objects in a tomb dated to the late Spring and  Autumn--early Warring States periods in Ku shih hsien [Gushi xian] 固始縣, Honan[Henan] 河南 province. [3]

[1] William Charles White, Tombs of Old Lo Yang: A Record of the Construction and Contents of a Group of Royal Tombs at Chin ts'un, Probably Dating to 550 B.C. (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Limited, 1934), pl. 152.

[2] Hsu Heng-pin [Xu Hengbin] 徐恆彬, Kuang-tung sheng po-wu-kuan fa-chueh hsiao-tsu [Guangdong sheng bowuguan fajue xiaozu] 廣東省博物館發掘小組 and Chao-ch'ing shih wen-hua-chu fa-chueh hsiao-tsu [Zhaoqing shi wenhuaju fajue xiaozu] 肇慶市文化局發掘小組, "Kuang-tung Chao-ch'ing shih Pei-ling Sung-shan ku mu fa-chueh chien-pao [Guangdong Zhaoqing shi Beiling Songshan gumu fajue jianbao] 廣東肇慶市北嶺松山古墓發掘簡報," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1974.11, p. 76, fig. 26.

[3] Gushi Hougudui yihaomu fajue zu 固始侯古堆一號墓發掘組, "Henan Gushi Hougudui yihaomu fajue jianbao 河南固始侯古堆一號墓發掘簡報," Wenwu 文物 1981.1:1-8. Although the jade hook is not illustrated in the archaeological report, it is described as being of extremely delicate shape and good workmanship. The description appears on p. 7; the assemblage of jade objects and remains of the body appear in fig. 10. On the basis of the artifacts found in tomb 1 at Hou-ku-tui [Hougudui] 侯古堆, the contents have been dated to the late Spring and Autumn--early Warring States periods.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.

9. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 9, 2010) Deleted "belt hook" from Object Name.

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, March 15, 2011) Object Name changed from "Jewelry" to "Garment hook"; Title  changed from "Belt hook (garment hook), Dai Gou 帶鉤" to "Garment hook (daigou 帶鉤)."
 

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 23, 2023) Title changed from "Garment hook (daigou)" to "Garment hook"; added Period Two as "Warring States period"; Date changed from "4th-3rd century BCE" to "475-221 BCE"; added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang. Removed the following from the Description field: "Chinese, Later Eastern Chou, Warring States Period, 4th-3rd century B.C.

Belt hook; in form of quadrilateral curved stem ending in severely outlined, inverted dragon head, no features indicated; rectangular, projecting stud on reverse; some edges beveled, others sharp; white and grays with two pale green areas on reverse; some bright green patina (from bronze ?) on base of stud, and some granular strata. Box."

Added the following to the Description field: "Belt hook; in form of quadrilateral curved stem ending in severely outlined, inverted dragon head, no features indicated; rectangular, projecting stud on reverse; some edges beveled, others sharp; white and grays with two pale green areas on reverse; some bright green patina (from bronze?) on base of stud, and some granular strata.

Acquired with a box, now lost."