A set of eighteen white jade 'dragon' belt plaques, Ming dynasty | 明 白玉蟒龍紋帶板 一套十八件

Wing Po Antiques, Hong Kong, 13th September 1994.

榮寶閣，香港，1994年9月13日

The present set of jade plaques decorated with four-clawed dragons is rare. During the Ming dynasty, only officials of the first rank were entitled to wear belts set with meticulously carved jade plaques of varying sizes and decorations, while those of the second and third ranks were allowed to wear belt sets comprising plaques made of rhinoceros horn and other precious materials. According to the Da Ming hui dian, or the Collected Statues of the Ming Dynasty, those who are noble and senior members in Imperial service are granted the four-clawed dragons, but rarely for the first-rank officials.

The arrangement of the plaques followed an established pattern, with the largest pieces typically placed at the centre and at either end of the belt. The use of such plaques had its origin as early as the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, jade belt plaques were revived after a decline in the previous dynasties. It has been recorded that Ming emperors had thousands of sets of jade plaques made in the imperial workshops to grant to officials and to the nobility.

Compare with a complete set of twenty jade belt plaques in the Nanjing Museum, similarly decorated with dragons but with a gold belt, illustrated in Ming chao shou shi guan fu (Ming Dynasty Jewellery and Formal Attire), Beijing, 2000, p.27; See also another soapstone belt plaque, Ming dynasty, with a similar low-relief carving technique, illustrated in ibid., p.36. Another related set of jade plaques were found in the Tomb of the Prince of Liang of the Ming Dynasty, but with reticulated dragon motifs, illustrated in Liangzhuangwang mu [The Tomb of the Prince Liang], Beijing, 2007, pl. 166.

白玉質，圭形砣尾兩塊，桃型銙六塊，長方形七塊，長條形輔弼三塊，除三塊輔弼減地浮雕杏林春燕紋外，其餘皆減地浮雕刻四爪蟒龍紋，每塊背面皆有雙穿孔。

明初規定束腰之革帶，一品及公侯革帶用玉。蟒紋不在《大明會典》規定的命服制度之內，惟規定「貴而用事者，賜蟒」，然而「文武一品官不易得也」。唐宋以來革帶帶板數目不一，明初定鼎之後多見二十塊革帶，洪武後期形成定制：正面「三台」，即中間一塊近正方形帶板，兩邊個一塊小長方形條，稱為輔弼，三台兩側各三塊桃形銙，左右向後各一塊圭形鉈尾及輔弼，帶飾後部連綴七塊長方形帶板，稱為排方。

南京博物館藏一套完整的明代龍紋金帶，共計二十塊帶板，紋飾、制式於本件類同，此套雖為金帶，然裝飾龍紋，並非三四品所用之金革帶，見南京市博物館編，《明朝首飾冠服》，北京，2000年，頁27。同書著錄一件明代洞石靈芝紋玉帶，其平地浮雕之法於本件屬於同類，見前書，頁36。明代梁莊王墓亦出土一套制式相同之龍紋玉帶，惟青玉，且鏤空，見《梁莊王墓》，北京，2007年，彩板166。