Page 16 - Christie's Important Chinese Art Nov 3 2020 London

a Jade Belt hook for all tIme

dr. Jenny f. so

“Weary not of new belts, despise not old belt hooks”
Huananzi: Taizuxun 11

A belt hook formerly in the Baron and Baroness
von Oertzen Collection offered in the current sale
deserves special attention, not just because it is
shaped from a translucent, pale yellowish jade with a
warm unctuous polish. More importantly, it is worked
from a single, large slab of jade originally about 10
x 7 x 2 cm thick, an extraordinary extravagant use
of very precious material even today. Its design of
studied rhythmically symmetrical openwork curls
and hooks mesmerizes, as does its lustrous polish
created by light dancing across the subtly molded
surfaces. Surrounded by the abstract curls is a single
crested animal-mask at the center of the shield-
shaped body, as plump angular C-curls occupy the
neck, lead toward the hook that is rendered as a
sculptured animal head with horns sweeping back
to form a loop. Fine incised linear curls adorn the flat
underside: on the neck, a long-tailed bird, its head
bent back with yogic dexterity, and on the button
in the middle, an interlocking whorl pattern. Finally,
that this belt hook has survived in virtually perfect
condition for more than two thousand years testifies
to its timeless appeal.

In ancient China, belt hooks were an everyday, purely
functional accessory designed to hold two ends of
a leather or fabric belt together, keeping the tunic or
robe tightly wrapped around the waist. The button
on the underside passes through a hole at one end of
the belt, while the hook attaches to a slit or opening
at the opposite end of the belt. Created during the
6th century BCE, belt hooks were mostly modest

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