Page 201 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

ith its slender elongated proportions surmounted by a dragon head, this garment
hook (daigou) is a masterful example of the fully developed tradition of inlaid
Wbronze belt hooks during the Han dynasty. Sumptuously crafted from precious
materials, these decorative items reflect the secularization of the bronze industry and the broader
distribution of wealth that occurred during the Western Han period.

Whilst garment hooks of this form, inlaid in gold and silver with geometric patterns, were manufactured
in large numbers from the late 6th century BC onwards, the addition of turquoise and turquoise-colored
glass inlay is particularly unusual. Here, the multicolored inlays lend a dazzling, luxurious effect to the
richly ornamented surface.

Experimentation with glass inlay was introduced during the Warring States period, but was employed
much more frequently from the Han dynasty onwards, often using monochrome glass in place of jade
or other colored stones. Small glass inlays simulating semi-precious stones are also found on a few
bronze vessels: a hu without cover, inlaid with gold, silver, turquoise, and small circular pieces of red glass
probably meant to simulate agate, was excavated in Baoji, Shaanxi, and is now in the Baoji Municipal
Museum, Baoji, illustrated in Li Xueqin, ed., Zhongguo meishu quanji: Gongyi meishu bian [Complete
series on Chinese art: Arts and crafts section], vol. 5: Qingtong qi [Bronzes], vol. 2, Beijing, 1986, pl. 171;
and a silver-inlaid egg-shaped bronze tripod dui in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica
Rawson, ed., The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, London, 1992, p. 72, fig. 45, is also believed to have
featured small dots of glass.

A small number of garment hooks of this type are known. Compare one from the Sze Yuan Tang
Collection, illustrated in The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Asian Civilisations Museum,
Singapore, 2000, cat. no. 64; and another illustrated in Treasures from the Shang and a Selection of
Ritual Objects, Gisèle Croës, New York, 2001, pl. 79. A garment hook inlaid with turquoise, rather than
turquoise-glass, is illustrated Early Chinese Art from Tombs and Temples, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1993,
cat. no. 13, and is now in the Uldry Collection, illustrated in Chinesisches Gold und Silber, Reitberg
Museum, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 36.