Garment hook with dragons

Historical period(s)
Warring States period, Late Eastern Zhou dynasty, ca. 4th century BCE
Medium
Bronze with gold and silver inlay
Dimensions
H x W x D: 22.9 x 2.5 x 4.2 cm (9 x 1 x 1 5/8 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1948.26
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Jewelry and Ornament, Metalwork
Type

Garment hook

Keywords
China, dragon, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE)
Provenance

Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941), New York and "The Chimneys," Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island. [1]

From at least 1943 to 1948
Tonying and Company, New York from at least 1943. [2]

From 1948
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying & Company, New York on December 8, 1948. [3]

Notes:

[1] According to an undated and unattributed note in the object file.

[2] The object was brought to the Freer Gallery for examination by C. F. Yau in 1943, see A. G. Wenley’s letter to C. F .Yau, Tonying & Company, dated December 6, 1948, in object file.

[3] See Tonying & Company’s invoice, dated December 8, 1948, in which the object figures under no. B. 60: “Gilt Bronze Buckle, with silver inlay dragon and other designs / Han,” copy in object file. See also “List of Objects Contemplated for Purchase by the Freer Gallery of Art,” approved by C. G. Abbot, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, on February 4, 1944, copy in object file.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Mrs. Christian R. Holmes 1871-1941
Tonying and Company established 1902

Published References
  • Sueji Umehara. Chugoku kodai no hoshoku taiko [Ancient Chinese Jeweled Garment Hooks]. no. 11 Osaka, September 1953. p. 6, pl. 8.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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