LATE MING-EARLY QING DYNASTY, 16TH-18TH CENTURY

This figure embodies a high level of sculptural quality. While the stone is flat, the artist carved this figure in such a way as to suggest a great deal of moment in the figure's robes and stance. The costume of this well-carved figure identifies him as a foreigner, possibly a tribute bearer. Small jade figures of this type were first made during the Tang dynasty when figures of foreigners were produced in various materials, representing the cosmopolitan society of the period. Two such standing figures from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Cheng Te-k'un, both dated to the Tang dynasty, are illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers in Chinese jade throughout the ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1975, nos. 216 and 219. Each figure is similarly identified as a foreigner by his apparel, which includes a cloak. The first figure, shown holding a peach, also wears a hood, while the second figure, a tribute bearer holding a jade boulder, wears somewhat baggy clothing reminiscent of that of the present figure, as is his broad face. Rather than wearing a hood, he is depicted with short curly hair bound with a fillet.