A RARE LARGE GILT-BRONZE BELT HOOK WARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY |

well modeled in a slightly arched rectangular form with a concave underside, crisply cast to the top in high relief with two addorsed creatures with powerful claws emerging from their entwined scaly bodies, terminating in doe-like heads, each detailed with long snout, almond-shaped eyes and pointed ears, the hook rendered in the form of a similar animal head, the underside with a circular button

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

In overall good condition with a small section of loss to the circular button. Some general wear to the surface and the gilding with small areas of losses to the extremities, as visible in the catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The highly intricate design on the present belt hook incorporates both the rich imagination and the precise execution of the metalwork artisans during the late Eastern Zhou to Han dynasty. A small group of gilt-bronze belt hooks of this type, notable for their large size and complex decoration, are known in museums and private collections, including one cast with a very similar design, in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, published in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A Handbook of the Collection, New York, 1993, pl. 283; another exhibited in Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 128; a third, in the Collection of Crown Prince of Sweden Gustaf Adolf, published in Nils Palmgren, ed., Selected Chinese Antiquities from the collection of Gustaf Adolf Crown Prince of Sweden, Stockholm, 1948, pl. 22, fig. 8; a fourth offered in these rooms, 9th December 1987, lot 138; and another gilt-bronze belt hook of a similar size, cast with a slightly different design, but executed in the same intricate fashion, illustrated in Seiichi Mizuno, Tenri Sankōkan zuroku [Collection from Tenri Sankokan], Nara, 1967, pl. 91. See also related belt hooks cast with a similar design but also inlaid with glass beads, including one in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, published in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, pl. 224; and two sold at auction, one reported to have been discovered in Jincun, formerly in the collection of Robert W. Bliss, sold in these rooms, 6th December 1983, lot 91, and the other sold at Christie's London, 10th December 1984, lot 797.