Lot 8060. A small gilt-bronze garment hook, Warring States to Han dynasty; 1 5/8in (4.2cm) long. Estimate US$ 4,000 - 6,000 (€3,600 - 5,400). Sold for US$ 10,000 (€ 8,122). Photo: Bonhams.

Delicately cast as a swan-like mythical bird, the terminal formed from the bird's sinuous neck and long bill, the body with a projecting tail plume, incised to depict feathers and inset with semi-precious stone inlay, the reverse with a protruding circular button. 

Provenance: Ariadne Galleries, New York, August 1999

Notes: Inlaid gilt bronze garment hooks of this rounded form and exaggerated beak are rare. An earlier example of a bronze hook of this form dated to the Warring States period is illustrated by B. Till, Treasures Unearthed: Chinese Archaeological Artefacts from Shang to Tang, Victoria, British Columbia, pp. 102-3, and another turquoise-inlaid example dated to the Western Han is illustrated by James C. S. Lin, The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China, Cambridge, p. 183, no. 74. Another related example, without inlay but of cast gold, is illustrated by Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 12 and sold at Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork, Early Gold and Silver; Early Chinese White, Green and Black Wares, 14 May 2008, lot 21.

Bonhams. CHINESE PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART, 14 Sep 2015 10:00 EDT , NEW YORK