Minneapolis Institute of Art

Belt hook

China

Date

4th-3rd century BCE

Medium

Gilt bronze with crystal and glass inlay

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Richly decorated belt fasteners like this one ornamented the luxurious silk costumes worn during the Warring States period. This elaborately decorated hook has three crystal bosses set over comma-shaped spirals, with smaller green glass bosses interspersed between entwined dragons. On the larger end is a dragon head with inlaid glass on the forehead. Its large oval ears slant along the sides, and above them are horns, quite long and curving. A pair of smaller dragons wind around the crystals, their heads merging in an undulating form, their bodies curving alongside the large dragon. The long hook ends in a turned-back dragon head. The concave underside has been left ungilded and is inlaid with a scrolling design in silver wire. China, Asia

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