HAN DYNASTY, 2ND-1ST CENTURY BC

This cicada is similar to two illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, p. 319, no. 24:9. See, also, the example illustrated by J. F. So in Chinese Jades from the Cissy and Robert Tang Collection, Art Museum, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015, pp. 134 and 135, where the author notes that the life cycle of the cicada symbolizes rebirth, making it an appropriate shape for funerary purposes.