China, Dian kingdom, second or first century BC
Length: 3 1/2 inches, 9 cm

A bronze buckle of rectangular form, the lightly bowed front is inset with nine semi-cylindrical segments of white jade, the top and bottom edge are cast with a design of linked scrolls. The back is fitted with a simple hook for attachment to a belt. The material has an even, dark green patina.

This simple but striking buckle is a product of the Dian culture. The Dian kingdom, centred on lake Dian in eastern Yunnan province, southern China, was the best known and possibly richest of several civilisations that developed almost independently during the Han dynasty. The Dian culture is known for its variety of metallurgical techniques and great dynamism in design, producing objects very different in form and style to the works of art produced during the Warring States and Han periods. Animal motifs are the most frequently occurring decorative feature on Dian bronzes, and this buckle is unusual in that it lacks such ornament. A comparable buckle, also inlaid with jade segments but with a border of foxes was found in 1965 in Shizhaishan, Jinning.1

1 - Lutz, A. Dian, Ein versunkenes Königreich in China, Museum Rietberg, Zurich 1986, no. 72, p. 120-1