Page 37 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

This set of gold and jade plaques would originally have been inlaid in an
alternating pattern along the center of a large garment hook, as seen on
an iron example (8æ in. long) illustrated by Thomas Lawton in Chinese
Art of the Warring States Period, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.,
1982, p. 101, no. 51. The gold plaques on the Freer garment hook are
similarly cast with entwined dragons and the jade plaques are decorated
with comma patterns, although only one of the plaques has the commas
carved in relief, implying that the others might not be original. Another
similar gold, silver and jade-inlaid bronze garment hook of large size
(8º in. long) is illustrated by Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China from
the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, The Asia Society, New York, 1965, p.
107, pl. 85c. A pair of similar garment hooks discovered in tombs of the
Chu state at Xinyang, Henan province, is illustrated in Xinyang Chu mu,
Beijing, 1986, pls. 64:1-3 and 65:1-2, and one is illustrated in a drawing
in Kaogu Xuebao, 1985:3, p. 285, and again by Simon Kwan and Sun Ji,
Chinese Gold Ornaments, Hong Kong, 2003, pp. 204-5, pl. 66.

(detail)

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