This rock crystal toggle from the Metropolitan Museum of Art which they tittle "Shape of Hawk Attacking a Swan"Accession Number: 2004.202. This toggle dates to the Liao dynasty 907–1125 AD and i suspect the second half. This is a gift to the Met by Jack Jacoby.
A Liao Toggle is basically equivalent to the Japanese Netsuke.
A cord was attached to the toggle and to a container. It functioned like a
pocket and as jewelry.
The Gyrfalcon Falco Rusticolus Image Ólafur Larsen derivative work:
The smaller bird is a gyrfalcon the largest of the falcon family and highly prized by the Khitan of the Liao Dynasty.
The larger bird is a Tundra Swan which is very close if not the same breed as a bewick’s Swan.
The Khitan used the Gyrfalcons as a special Swan hunt twice a year. The Gyrfalcons would take the Swans and the largest would be presented at the Khitan Ancestral Temple.
The Khitan used the Gyrfalcons as a special Swan hunt twice a year. The Gyrfalcons would take the Swans and the largest would be presented at the Khitan Ancestral Temple.
The Swan Hunt is a bit of a mystery. The Khitan were primarily Buddhist and to a lesser extent Tengri. I contacted the great Asian Historian and expert on Tengri H.B. Paksoy and he sees no parallels in Tengri to the Swan Hunt and Temple Sacrifice. So then we look to Buddhism. Buddha opposed animal sacrifice and it is frowned upon in Buddhist practice but it is not entirely unheard of. It is more common in Taoism but if we follow Russell Kirkland in “Taoism: The Enduring Tradition” the Liao dynasty stopped short of open opposition to Taoism they avoided it and did nothing to encourage it. This is the opposite of the Yenisic dynasty the Jurchen who overthrew the Liao and embraced Chinese custom and religion.
The Khitan were a Siberian people from the diaspora of the people of the Yenisei River. Many scholars treat the Khitan as some sort of second class Chinese. This is short sighted view and dismissive of a significant ethnic strain.
Notes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Toggle in Shape of Hawk Attacking a Swan
Period: Liao dynasty (907–1125)
Date: 10th–11th century
Culture: China
Medium: Crystal
Dimensions: H. 1 in. (2.5 cm); W. 1 in. (2.5 cm); L. 3 in. (7.6 cm)
Classification: Hardstone
Credit Line: Purchase, Jack Jacoby Gift, 2004
Accession Number: 2004.202
Provenance: Capital Gallery , Hong Kong, until 2004; sold to MMA
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/72574
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