A celadon jade pyramid-shaped 'animal head and dragon' belt ornament, Late Western Zhou - early Eastern Zhou dynasty | 西周晚期至東周早期 青玉獸首龍紋空心三棱錐飾

This hollow pyramid-shaped ornament is extremely rare as a jade version of a type of bronze and gold belt ornament found from the late Western Zhou royal burials of the Guo and Rui states, see one of two gold belt ornament recovered from Rui state cemetery at Liangdaicun, Hancheng, Shaanxi province, now in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in in Golden Age of the Rui State: Zhou Dynasty Treasures from Hancheng, Shaanxi province, Shanghai, 2012, p.79. They have been found singly or in pairs around the waist as prominent components of a group of circular belt ornaments. Unlike jade arc-shaped huang pendant assemblage that were worn by both late Western Zhou noblemen and women, belt ornaments like the present lot appear to have been exclusively worn by male members of the royal family.

以玉製的三棱錐飾極為罕見，類似的青銅三棱錐飾在虢國和芮墓地層有出土，應為裝飾腰帶所用，如陝西省渭南韓城市梁帶村出土兩件，現存上海博物館，著錄於《金玉華年 : 陝西韓城出土周代芮國文物珍品》，上海，2012 年，頁 79。這類帶飾一般成對或單獨出現，裝飾於腰帶比較顯著的位置。從出土資料顯示，此類三棱錐形帶飾僅為王室男性成員穿戴，而不想玉璜等佩飾，男女均可佩戴。