A rare set of three white jade and gold belt ornaments, Northern Zhou - Tang dynasty

Anthony Carter Ltd., London.

For closely related set of belt plaques, similarly decorated but with gilt-bronze fixtures, see one excavated from the tomb of Ruo Ganyun at Dizhangwan, Shaanxi province, now housed in the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, and illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14 Shaanxi, Beijing, 2005, pl. 176. Attributed to the Northern Zhou dynasty, the tomb contained a set of 24 belt plaques, beautifully polished and carved from fine Xinjiang Hetian jade, all decorated with gilt-bronze bosses similar to the present lot. Compare another set of belt plaques, excavated from the storage pit at Hejiacun, Shaanxi Province, attributed to the Tang dynasty, illustrated ibid., pl. 183.