A pale green jade 'phoenix' belt-hook


QianlongThe pale green stone superbly carved with the head of a phoenix forming the hook with the crest terminating in a ruyi-head, the broad arched shaft carved in high relief with a pair of finely-detailed wings, the outstretched tail feathers elegantly curled in various directions, the underside with a round knob. 11cm (4 1/4in) long.
|清乾隆 青玉雕鳳帶鉤Provenance:Timothy Allan Lewis (1937-2004) and Fran Lewis, Melplash Court, DorsetDuke's, Reflections of The Orient, Melplash Court, Dorchester, 23 September 2010, lot 1030Marchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:Roger Keverne Ltd., Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics. Summer Exhibition, 2011, no.97Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, London, 2015, no.28來源：英國多賽特郡Melplash Court莊園劉易斯夫婦舊藏英國多切斯特Duke's拍賣行，2010年9月23日，拍品編號1030倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：Roger Keverne有限公司，《Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics. Summer Exhibition》，倫敦，2011年，編號97Marchant，《玉器九十，90週年特展》，倫敦，2015年，編號28Phoenix-headed jade belt-hooks are rare. Such carvings follows that of earlier times as exemplified in a jade belt-hook with design of a phoenix-head, Tang dynasty or later, illustrated by J.C.Y.Watt in Chinese Jades from Han to Chi'ing, New York, 1980, p.194, no.185; see also three jade belt hooks with phoenix-head designs, Yuan or Ming dynasty, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade from THe Neolithic to the Qing, London, 2002, p.346, fig.1.青玉質，青潤透瑩，鉤首圓雕鳳頭，圓喙下鉤，浮雕眉眼耳羽，如意冠後伏，鉤身雕兩翼拱起作棱形，羽翼之上浮雕淺刻鳳紋，有上古遺風，尾分七羽，捲作如意形，鉤背光素，惟陰刻兩道。鳳作帶鉤並不少見，然多見於鉤首而已，如一件定為唐或更晚的鳳手玉帶鉤，著錄於屈志仁，《Chinese Jades from Han to Chi'ing》，紐約，1980年，編號185，頁194。大英博物館藏有三件元至明的鳳首帶鉤也可比較之，見J.Rawson著，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，2002年， 頁346，圖1。