Lot 21. A fine gold garment-hook, Warring States Period (475-221 BC), 3.4cm., 1 3/8 in. Estimate 2,000 — 3,000 GBP. Lot sold 42,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

elegantly cast in a curved 'S' profile and surmounted by a goose head hook with an elongated beak, the long slender neck gracefully tapering into a wide and slightly domed body, a round button set on the back for attachment . Weight 34g.

Exhibited: Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 12.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 12.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 12.

Note: Unlike garment hooks cast in bronze or iron, gold garment-hooks are rare. Four gold garment-hooks similarly rendered with realistically portrayed goose heads were found among the burial goods in the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng at Sui Xian in Hubei province, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji. Gongyi meishu bian, vol. 10, Beijing, 1987, pl. 19.