HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 220)

Details

A RARE AND UNUSUAL SMALL SILVER GARMENT HOOK
HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 220)
The heavily cast hook is shaped as a horned and winged mythical beast with a fierce expression and sharp-clawed feet shown crouching on the button. The body and back are finely detailed with scales terminating in a long, curved tail ending in a bird's head hook.
1 ½ in. (3.8 cm.) long; weight 20.3 g

Provenance

Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, no. CK85.
Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 33.

Literature

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 85.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 388.

Exhibited

Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 85.

Lot Essay

The same kind of sculptural depiction of an animal can be seen on an equally small gold garment hook from a Western Han tomb, illustrated by Jay Xu ed., Tomb Treasures: New Discoveries from China's Han Dynasty, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2017, p. 152, no. 66, which depicts a rabbit rather than the more fantastic animal seen on the present garment hook.

More from Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver

View All