A CELADON JADE FIGURE OF A CICADA EASTERN HAN DYNASTY | 東漢 青白玉八刀蟬

Sharply incised with concise strokes on both sides and modelled with elongated wings, this lustrous jade carving is arguably one of the best examples of cicadas executed in the ‘Han splitting’ style.

Cicada’s unusual long life cycle as an insect has made it a popular subject in ancient Chinese jades, symbolising rebirth and immortality. A pair of jade cicadas of this type is in the collection of British Museum, illustrated by Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 319, no. 24:8.

自古以來，因蟬可脫殼重生，成為永生不朽的象徵。此玉蟬溫潤晶瑩，形態纖長，線條俐落，盡展「漢八刀」之精湛，拔萃出眾，傳世例中極為罕見。同類玉蟬，倫敦大英博物館藏有一對，可資比較，但其玉質、雕工略遜，圖見羅森，《Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁319，編號24:8。