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Museum Quality Jade Clothing Hook of Han Dynasty
Measurements:
Length: 4 ? inches = 11.2 cm;
Width: 3/8 inches = 0.9 cm;
Thickness: ? inches = 1.9 cm;
Weight = 1 oz. = 28 g
Museum Quality Green Jade Clip and Button for Noble’s Clothing in Han or Late Zhou Period. Classical Dragon Head with Grain Motifs of prosperity of the period.
Highly Collectible from Seasoned Estate Collection.
Review of the literature and Discussion:
The belt hook was initially a dress accessory, but eventually became a collector item.
A few jade hooks have been found at a Liangzhou site.
Belt hook was at its most widespread during the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BC).
Traditionally, the Chinese people tied knots to fasten their clothes.
Belts were used tighten loose robes, mainly to facilitate movements, especially in outdoor activities.
The stud on the back of the hook would have been pushed through a slit on one end of the belt, while the other end would be equipped with a ring could be inserted into the hook.
In Northern Song era, scholars avidly collected ancient jade or bronze belt hooks.
By 17th century, belt hooks were put to a number of novel uses: elegant picture hooks on the wall or brush rests on scholar’s desks.
Qing dynasty robes for men were not as loose as those of the preceding Ming dynasty, and there is a very little pictorial evidence to show that belt hooks were worn as a clothing accessory.
Although it was a considerable amount of jade hooks made in 18th and 19th century, they were made only to satisfy collecting craze of that era.
Since the hook was not intended to be worn, the gap between the dragon's head and the chi is very small.
Another characteristic of Qing workmanship is that the chi is raised above the body of the hook to a level almost parallel with the dragon's head.
Conclusion
1) The hook in our auction is really worn and made to wear a clothing as a practical accessories;
2) According to style and aging condition of the jade there is a high probability that the hook in this auction was made in Han Dynasty
References:
Chinese Jades, by Ming Wilson, 2004, p. 29-33