WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, 2ND-1ST CENTURY BC

The carving of the cicada is very similar to two jade examples dated 2nd-1st century BC illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 319, no. 24:9. A group of similar facial aperture covers and plugs, and a cicada, are illustrated by Yang Boda in Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994, no. 224, where they are dated Han dynasty and where their uses are discussed. See, also, the very similar white jade cicada, from Mozuizi, Wuwei, Gansu province, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 15, Beijing, 2005, p. 112.