Garment hook with dragons and mask
date: label: Date
content: 206 BCE-9 CE
label: Period
content: Western Han dynasty
notes: label: Provenance
content: From at least 1933
label: Provenance
content: Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871–1941), New York, NY, and The Chimneys, Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island, from at least 1933. [1]
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1944 to 1946
label: Provenance
content: Tonying and Company, New York, NY, from at least February 4, 1944. [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1946
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York, NY, on February 18, 1946. [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Umehara Sueji, Shina kodo Seikwa, Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America: Part III Miscellaneous Objects, vol. 1 (Osaka: Yamanaka and Co., 1933), pl. 69. Mrs. Holmes lent the object to the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in London in 1935–36, see Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, exh. cat. (London: Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935–March 7, 1936), cat. 571 (ill.).
label: Provenance
content: [2] The bronze is included on 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.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Tonying and Company’s invoice, dated February 18, 1946, in which the bronze figures under no. B 59: Gilt Bronze Buckle, inlaid with green jade, dragon decoration on both sides / Han, copy in object file. See also Archibald Gibson Wenley’s letter to C. F. Yau, Tonying and Co., New York, NY, dated February 15, 1946, copy in object file, in which Wenley confirms the acquisition of the bronze for the Freer Gallery’s collection.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: casting
label: Topic
content: gilding
label: Topic
content: inlay (process)
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: jade
label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: Western Han dynasty (206 BCE - 9 CE)
label: Topic
content: mask
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: taotie
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: Related Online Resources
content: Jades for Life and Death
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1946.8
objectType: label: Type
content: Jewelry and Ornament
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Gilt bronze with jade
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 19.9 x 2.1 cm (7 13/16 x 13/16 in)