MID-LATE WARRING STATES, CIRCA 400-221 BC

The present jade figure is one of the most realistically rendered jade figures from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, with finely detailed facial features and well defined clothing. Most jade figures from this period are much flatter and perforated as beads. This figure is one of the few exceptions where it is carved in the round, with an indentation on the underside, suggesting that it may have been set in or onto something else. Compare with a similar jade figure (4.6 cm. high) from the Winthrop Collection, Harvard Art Museums, object number: 1943.50.329 (fig.1); and another (5.2 cm. high) in the British Museum, holding a sword and also wearing a headdress, object number: 1945.10-17.86 (fig. 2), both perforated.