国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

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the man on the left (90). We consider the end of the I millennium as the probable date of this piece.

The variations described above are far from giving any idea of all the possible forms of belt-clasps before and after the I millennium. So little attention has been payed to this group of objects, that we must not forget that besides the numerous types illustrated here, there will be many other new motives when the rising interest in this subject brings us additional documents.

b) Hanging hooks.

We have already remarked that the hook can serve for purposes other than belt fastenings. This seems very probable when the decoration can only be understood if the object is in a vertical position. Siren believes that short and heavy hooks hung from the belt and held other small articles (91). Besides this suggestion there is again the possibility of their having served as amulets and as burial objects.

Usually the animal-head on the vertical hook plays but a minor role, the large buckle determines the position of this type of clasp and forms the main decoration. On the small hook of Plate XX no. 6 is a head, full-face, derived from the Chinese dragon. The buckle, divided into four framed sections decorated with dotted lines, has abandoned the animal ornamentation. The protuberance at the back is lacking. The granular motive on the wide end makes a date near the middle of the I millennium seem probable.

Plate XX no. 7 shows us a kneeling camel with a bar between the two humps. This clasp cannot have been worn in a horizontal position. The possibility of this object's having served for any practical purpose is disproved by the backward direction of the hook and by the under side which is smooth and without protuberances. The Minussinsk influence is felt in the form of the eye, although the unarticulated surface points towards the end of the I millennium.

We are nearer China in Plate XX no. 8. This piece could have been put to practical use, since it has a normally placed hook and two protuberances at the back. The composition, only intelligible in a vertical position, repeats three times a horned fantastic head, once on the end of the hook, once at the beginning of the bar, and finally at the edge of the wider end where the coiled, scaled body of the animal forms the shield. This piece as a whole is near enough to Han art to be given a date around 5 oo.

The clasp with a loop to which a chain could have been affixed (Pl. XX no. 9) should be placed later, that is about the end of the I millennium. The same arrangement is found on a hook belonging to the Stockholm Museum, joined to a similar intermediary piece (92). Here, the centre is formed by a ram seen from the front the horns of which are at the beginning of the bar. At either side are tigers in profile with curled upper lips, and collars and fur drawn with dotted lines, all elements inherited from China. The joints and eyes of the three animals, as