1-234-036 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Jade garment hook with kui dragon, late Song-mid Ming dynasty, China, 13th-16th century. A white jade belt hook with pale brown suffusions. The hook is well-carved with a dragon's head. On the handle is a kui dragon with well contorted body, some fine line details and tail screwed up to a point. Garment hooks were introduced into China from the Central Asian Steppe in the middle of the first millenium BC. The colour of this piece is sometimes described as being 'onion coloured'.