Pictures

Carved as un upturned two-horned qilong dragon head facing a smaller qilong, the smaller one climbing up the arched shaft, the reverse with a tab for attachment.
China, 18th century.
Length : 13.5 cm, 5.3 in. Width : 2.5 cm , 1 in.

Archaistic belt-hooks made in the style of the Western Han dynasty such as the piece were popular during the Ming period. A closely related example in the Britisk Museum, London, is illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1994, p. 346, fig. 2 ; one was included in the exhibition Jades from China, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1994, cat. No. 314 ; and two were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd October 1991, lot 1348, and 1st May 1995, lot 788.

Notes :
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Hong Kong - part III - The Commercial Press - p 14