A jade 'animal' belt hook, Han dynasty
Lot 195. A jade 'animal' belt hook, Han dynasty (206 -220 AD); 8 by 2.3 by 2.2 cm. Lot sold: 81,900 HKD (Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022
the terminal in a simplified form of an animal head, the arced shaft with angular contours, adorned with two thick horizontal bands with raised ribs, the reverse with a tab for attachment, the stone of a translucent sage-green tone streaked with grey inclusions.
Provenance: Galaxie Art & Gift Co., Hong Kong, 15th March 1986.
Literature: Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 22:3.
Exhibited: British Museum, London, on loan, 1995.
Note: Two jade similarly modelled garment hooks with angular contours, attributed to the Warring States period and the Han dynasty respectively, are in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, accession nos S2012.9.1068 and S1987.716.
Sotheby's. HOTUNG The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 9 October 2022