Ancient Chinese clasp a fine specimen

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 21

Ancient Chinese clasp a fine specimen

By

Ralph Riccalton

A solid bronze garment clasp is one of the treasures of the Rewi Alley collection presented by this notable New Zealander to Canterbury Museum during a visit to his homeland in 1960. This fine example has a hook terminating in a feline mask and is enriched with silver inlay to form a symmetrical design of the spiral forms so typical of the Period of the Warring States (late fourth to fifth century 8.C.). Being more than 2000 years old this is the most ancient of the 40 examples of garment clasps (tai kou) which Rewi Alley col-

lected in China and .has presented along with many other specimens of artistic- and archaeological value. Most of the other garment clasps are of later date (Ch’ing Dynasty, 1644-1912) and with the exception of one example in porcelain, and several carved from quartz (including rose, smoky, and brown agate) they are all carved from variously coloured jade. The head forming the hook of these later specimens is no longer cat-like, but represents more fanciful animals such as the dragon and kylin (a

sort of Oriental unicorn) with the open mouth carefully pierced to reveal fangs. These jade specimens range in size from 6cm to 15cm and probably the smaller and more delicate ones were worn by the children of noble or rich parents. Conversely, large heavily-carved clasps may well h ,, 7e been cus-tom-made to add to the dignity and and imposing bearing of court officials or to bolster the self esteem of wealthy merchants.

Thanks to recent archaeological discoveries it is now known

exactly how these essential features of Chinese costume were worn. The protruding button on the base was pushed through a hole in the belt on the right-hand side, while the hook at the other end fastened through a slit — one of several provided for expansion or contraction of the wearer. These details can be studied on many of the life size figures of unarmed soldiers excavated from the tomb complex of the Emperor Qin Shihuang near the ancient Chinese capital Xian. (A selection of these tomb figures of the first Emperor to unify China in the third century, 8.C., was recently exhibited at the McDougall Art Gallery.) Although excavation of the full burial complex has .yet to be completed, archaeologists estimate that up to 7000 life-size soldiers were fashioned to guard the Emperor in after-life. The bulk of each figure would have been cast in moulds for mass production, but details of

features, hair styles, and clothing were individually modelled. With the passage of time and changes in the style of dress, garment clasps became obsolete as costume accessories. They were still valued as antique art objects, particularly since many of them would have been recovered from graves — it being the practice to inter a valued jade object with its dead owner.

They also became popular among Western collectors, with many of the ..forms being reproduced in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to meet a growing demand. As in the case of Japanese netsuke (belt toggles) there was a tendency to produce “cabinet pieces” serving as ornaments but too’ large or elaborately carved for any practical use.