Lot 12. A rare gilt-bronze documentary belt-hook, Eastern Han Dynasty, dated 76 AD and of the period; 14cm (5 1/2in) long. Sold for 2,040 €. Photo Fabrice Gousset.

The arched shaft shaped as the sinuous body of a dragon, finely inlaid in gold with swirling clouds and waves, the hook formed by a small dragon head with large snout and bulging eyes, the reverse inscribed in gold with a calligraphic inscription and set with a circular button decorated with geometric designs.

Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935.
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021).

Note: Belt hooks with dated inscriptions, such as the present lot, are extremely rare. The inscription on the reverse of the belt hook dates the piece to the Fifth Month of the First Year of Jianchu, corresponding to 76 AD.

Only approximately 50 years before this belt hook was made, the Han dynasty re-established itself after Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty ended in 23 AD. The Han dynasty in this period, known to historians as the later Han dynasty or the Eastern Han dynasty (because the capital had been moved from Chang'an in the west to Luoyang in the east) was still in a relatively vulnerable position. During Wang Mang's reign, the Xin dynasty lost control over the Tarim Basin in the west. A year before the present lot was made, the new Protector General of the Western Regions Chen Mu was killed by allies of the Xiongnu, and the garrison at Hami retreated. It was not until 91 AD, that the famous general and historian Ban Chao reasserted Han control of the Western Regions after crushing rebellions in Kashgar (80 AD) and Yarkand (88 AD). Just twenty years after the present lot was made, in 97 AD, Ban Chao was able to send Gan Ying as an envoy, who reached the Black Sea and left the first recorded Chinese account of Europe.

Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris. The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting - Part 1. Paris, 25 october 2022