Page 114 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

228 A RARE GLASS-INLAID GILT AND SILVERED-BRONZE BELT HOOK
WARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY
戰國至漢 銅鎏金錯銀獸紋嵌琉璃帶鉤

crisply cast to the slightly arched top as a stylized bat-like mythical creature, detailed with a pronounced snout, large almond-
shaped eyes, folded wings and small claws, its body centered by a circular dark green glass bead adorned with seven small
swirls, the gently curved hook terminating in an animal head, the silvered underside set with a small button

Length 3¾ in., 9.5 cm
$ 8,000-12,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Skillfully incorporating two distinctively different materials and transforming them into a functional work of art,
the present belt hook demonstrates the high level of craftsmanship of the metal and glass artisans during the late
Eastern Zhou to Han dynasty. While a small group of elaborate belt hooks of this type are known, it is extremely rare
to find another example made in the form of a bat-like creature such as the present. Extant examples are usually
modeled in the form of an owl mask grasping two animals above a beast head, such as two, similarly set to the
center with a glass bead, sold in these rooms, one from the collection of Hon. Hugh Scott, 7th December 1983, lot
69, and the other from the Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, 19th November 1982, lot 139. Compare also
another related belt hook, set with a circular bi disc centered by a glass bead, from the Stoclet Collection, published
in Umehara Sueji, Shina-Kodo Seikwa / Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and
America, pt. III: Miscellaneous Objects, vol. I, Osaka, 1933, pl. 79; one exhibited in Traders and Raiders on China’s
Northern Frontier, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1995, cat. no. 75; and another, inlaid with a small
turquoise in the center of the bi disc, sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 2006, lot 156.

本品帶鉤製工精巧，盡展東周晚期至漢代金屬及琉璃工 Heeramaneck收藏，1982年11月19日，編號139。另比
藝成就，兩種物料截然不同，卻可巧妙融合，製成可供 一例，圓璧中心再嵌琉璃珠，出自Stoclet收藏，載於梅
實用之藝術珍品。相近之帶鉤有數例參考，唯本品作似 原末治，《歐米蒐儲支那古銅精華•雜器部》，冊一，
如蝙蝠之瑞獸，尤為獨特珍罕。現存作例，多於上部刻 大阪，1933年，圖版79；其二曾展於《Tradersaand
畫貓頭鷹抓兩獸，下方則為獸首，紐約蘇富比曾出售兩 Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier》，賽克勒美
例，中心嵌琉璃珠，其一出自Hon. Hugh Scott收藏， 術館，華盛頓，1995年，編號75；再比一例，圓璧中心嵌
售於1983年12月7日，編號69，另一例出自Alice及Nasli 小綠松石，售於紐約佳士得2006年9月19日，編號156。

112 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II