登录
China. Warring States to Western Han Dynasty, 4th-1st century BC. The slender, rounded shaft is intricately inlaid with silver sheet and wire, forming overlapping scrolls reminiscent of intertwined creatures, interspersed with spiral motifs and geometric patterns framed by horizontal bands. The upper end terminates in a finely modeled hook shaped as a dragon’s head, similarly decorated and set with neatly inlaid black glass eyes. The underside bears a circular button for attachment.
Weight: 64 g
Dimensions: Height 9 cm
Provenance: Robert Kuo, RenLu Collection, Los Angeles, United States. Robert Kuo is a well-known designer who works with timeless motifs from the Han and Ming dynasties, often combining them with deco and nouveau influences as well as nature. Assembled over 25 years, acquiring one special object at a time, his private collection (named the RenLu Collection) encompasses scholarly works of art, furniture, sculpture, and jewelry. Born in Beijing, Robert Kuo moved with his family to Taiwan in 1947. Kuo grew up in an artistic environment. His father, an art professor and watercolor painter, started a cloisonné atelier where Robert became an apprentice at age fifteen. Here he learned the painstaking processes of applying enamel to copper, shaping forms with precision, and mastering intricate color applications. These formative years instilled in Kuo a deep respect and appreciation for traditional Chinese decorative arts and an unyielding curiosity about materiality. In 1973, he immigrated to the United States and opened a studio for cloisonné in Beverly Hills. He began experimenting with new shapes, textures, and finishes, and soon developed a unique artistic vocabulary that harmonized Eastern and Western influences. His innovations were quickly recognized and began appearing in high-profile collections, including the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery acquiring his "Goldfish Bowl". By the mid-1980s, Kuo had expanded his repertoire beyond cloisonné, mastering repoussé, a technique of hammering decorative relief onto metal surfaces. He worked with artisans in China, learning and refining ancient metalworking techniques that he would later adapt into his own designs. Over time, his expertise grew to include lacquer, hard stone, and Peking glass. His pieces are found in prestigious spaces such as the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, and the MGM Grand Villas in Las Vegas, as well as in the homes of celebrities such as Beyoncé, Will Smith, and Jennifer Lopez.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, casting irregularities, traces of use, signs of burial, encrustations, expected tarnish and minor losses to inlays. The black glass-inlaid eyes show some corrosion. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina with scattered malachite encrustation.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related inlaid bronze garmet hooks (daigou), dated to the 3rd-2nd century, 10.5 cm (high), illustrated in White, Julia M., and Bunker, Emma C. (1994), Adornment for Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament. Denver: Denver Art Museum, no. 30. Compare related bronze garmet hooks (daigou), excarvated from the Ta'erzhuang Qin Tomb and categorized in the type AII or AIII, illustrated in Chengyang City Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (ed.) (1994), The Ta’erpo Qin Tombs. Sanqin Publishing House, Xi’an, p. 141, no 3, as well as p. 142, no. 1.
Museum comparison:
Compare a closely related gold and silver inlaid bronze garmet hook (daigou), dated to the 3rd century BC, 8.5 cm (high), in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S2012.9.1740. Compare a related silver inlaid bronze garmet hook (daigou), dated to the 3th century BC, 13.9 cm (high), in the Musée Cernuschi, Museum of Asian Art Paris, inventory number M.C. 9121.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2021, lot 607
Price: USD 60,000 or approx. EUR 62,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gold and silver inlaid bronze belt hook, Warring States period
Expert remark: Compare the related slender curved form, decoration, and motifs with similar spirals and dots, manner of casting, and related inlaid decoration. Note the gold inlay and larger size (11.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 16 October 2025, lot 92
Price: EUR 13,000
Description: An exceptionally well-preserved glass- and silver-inlaid bronze garment hook, Daigou
Expert remark: Compare the related form, decoration, and motifs with similar spirals and dots, manner of casting, and related inlaid decoration. Note the larger size (16 cm).
|
|
| Galerie Zacke | |
| 地址： | Sterngasse 13, 1010 Vienna, Austria |
| 电话： | 0043-1-5320452 |
| 邮编： | 1070 |
| 向卖家提问 | |
