Details
FOUR JADE GUARDIAN FIGURES
EASTERN HAN DYNASTY (AD 25-220)
Each jade piece depicts a standing male figure dressed in long robes wearing a cap, two of which with carved facial features.
The tallest: 1 1/2 in. (4 cm.) high, box
Provenance
Dexinshuwu Collection, acquired in Taipei in 1991

Brought to you by

Liang-Lin Chen (陳良玲)
Liang-Lin Chen (陳良玲) VP, Senior Specialist Head of Sale

Lot Essay

These miniature jade figures are known as weng zhong, named after Ruan Wenzhong, a mythical giant who helped the previous Qin Empire defend its borders. Such jade figures were believed to be worn as talisman to ward off evil spirts. A similar miniature jade figure was unearthed from an Eastern Han tomb in Hanjiang Ganquan in Yangzhou city, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China- 7 – Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, 2005, p. 153 (fig. 1).

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