Gold Belt-front Ornament with Inlaid Gems

This circular decoration was the front face of a belt. This belt ornament has a box-like shape and is made up of three sections, hammered, welded together, and inlaid with precious stones. The largest piece is inlaid with a single piece of wood and a piece of bone placed over the wood, with the bone cavity face down. The visible face of the bone is painted brown. The smaller supporting pieces on either side are inlaid with a total of 14 rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and aventurine stones.

When cleaning the object, it was discovered that many of the settings were still intact, so that the gems did not loosen or fall off. According to The Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty, the five colors of jade beads were red, white, green, yellow, and black. As red, white, green, and yellow beads were found in the tomb, the missing black beads may have been made from rhinoceros horn, mahogany, or some other organic material.