Belt hook

To create this belt hook, the artisan used dark-green jade with artificially colored brown areas on the surface. A dragon's head looking backward forms the hook. The square handle has a dragonet in relief on the top and two rectangular studs and incised leaf designs on the base. Wide bevel cutting, refined line work in intaglio, and cross-hatching were added on the shallow relief.

A type of bronze belt hook with a shovel-shaped handle appeared in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and Shaanxi during the Eastern Zhou period. The shape was particularly favored by the Lu and Jin states, but its historic development has not been thoroughly studied. The head of a duck or a beast formed the hook. Some handle tops were plain; others were decorated with relief or inlay depicting birds, dragons, monster masks, or transformed clouds (Wang 1985, 283, fig. 9). Two published jade pieces were designed after metal works. A piece from Henan, dated to the late Spring and Autumn Period, bears stylized dragon and cloud designs. The other, from a Warring States tomb in Shandong, ends in a dragon's head in relief and the classical mask amid clouds on the handle (Zgyqqj 1993, vol. 3, plates 117, 206).

The type of dark-green jade used in this piece was often used for vessels and ornaments during the Qianlong period. The soft polish, the use of different carving methods, and the reserved nature and proportions of the motif were all eighteenth-century traits.