18th - 19th century
Bird Cage Hook
Artist/maker unknownOfficial script characters ornament the four sides of the hook and the upper left-hand corner of the base of this delicately designed functional object. Both text and image refer to the Three Kingdoms epic, which features three famous second-century A.D. friends who swore an oath to fight side by side and live and die together. The illustration shows one of them, Kuan Yü, faithfully guarding the two wives of another, Liu Pie.
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