AN EXCEPTIONAL HARDSTONE AND GLASS-INLAID GILT-BRONZE BELT HOOK HAN DYNASTY |

cast in the form of a powerful mythical animal mask resembling a tiger, detailed with feline features, its almond-shaped eyes inlaid with glass, its forehead inset with a circular hardstone, a tapering hook rising from the top of its head terminating in a double-horned chilong head, the concave underside with a circular button

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

Exhibition of Belt Buckles, Chinese Art Society, New York, 1951.

In overall good condition, except for a small chip to the tip of the triangular section between the ears. Overall with some minute nicks along the edges, small areas of malachite encrustation, and losses to the gilding. Some of the inlay possibly later replaced. Please note this lot includes a small typed label providing the exhibition history in 1951.
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.

Although belt hooks of this type are known, the present example is remarkable for its well preserved condition. Compare a closely related belt hook, but lacking inlays, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw, acc. no. 2002.201.169, and another in the collection of Wellington Wang, also without inlays, illustrated in Wellington Wang, Belt Ornaments Through the Ages, Taipei, 1996, pl. 99. See also other related gilt-bronze belt hooks with inlaid decoration, such as one in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., included in the exhibition Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1995, cat. no. 75; another sold at Christie's New York, 19th September 2006, lot 156; a third exhibited in Chinesische Gold und Silber. Die Sammling Pierre Uldry, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 50; and a fourth, inset with a cicada to the center, from the collection of Dr. Paul Singer, exhibited in, Relics of Ancient China from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1965, cat. no. 124.