Hi Eric,
It's a cicada.
Sorry, I don't know anything about pre-Columbian artefacts, but I'm sure someone else here will be able to tell you more about its date. It looks very nice to me.
One of the things that interests me is how close a resemblance there is between it and the jade (and sometimes glass) cicadas that were produced during the Han dynasty (two thousand years ago) in China. They had a ritual purpose in burials and were placed on the tongues of the dead (attached is one of the more beautiful I've seen - in the British Museum). It would be interesting to know if they had a similar function in any pre-Columbian culture.
Cheers,
Will
This looks typical of the artificially stressed fake jade carvings that abound in Hong Kong. I can see nothing even vaguely pre Columbian about it other than it is trying emulate a pre 1492 style.
Hi Will
As always a nice bead and teaching point.
i didnt know that in incient china also they use to put beads on tongues of dead person.thx for telling this.i have seen and had many tongue agate bead.even one with ancient calligraphy.
most persian tongue agate beads were flat like this one which i saw in this link.
cheers
Ali
http://www.ancientsuns.biz/bead-collections/ancient-flat-stone-beads/
Dear Ali,
It's very good to hear from you. Strange - I was just thinking about you earlier today (looking at some of the ancient jet beads you gave me), and hoping you were well. I didn't realize that those flat agates from Iran were used as "tongue beads." They're such an elegant shape and I always imagined their form was simply decorative.
And Abhaya, unfortunately it would make sense for Eric's cicada to be a modern Chinese fake. Do you have any images of similar jades?
Best,
Will
Hi Will and Ali, Jade cicadas were used in burials because of the perceived protective qualities of jade and cicadas represented resurrection. I have attached images of a Late Qing nephrite cicada in the same style and spirit of an earlier one and an authentic glass one from the Western Han in classic form. Elf's jade is too ornate to warrant the amount of "beat uppedness" of the condition of the stone. See the google link to some cicada images to compare. The original archaic types were impressionist in style while the later ones were meant to resemble the cicada more true to life. The use of cicadas as funereal pieces slackened off after the Han and seems to have become in use during the Qing as amulets to be worn by the living. Possibly because their significance as burial objects had been overlooked or forgotten. Culturally, Chinese are very averse to any item associated with death.
Hi Redmountain, The cicada is white glass although when I shine light through it looks a bit greenish. I haven't seen any inlaid Chinese glass aside from beads. Attached is a piece of circa Han glass used as inlay- possibly in a bronze item.
Hi abhaya
this is the example of the inlaid glass cicade from the yangzhou museum
excavated in 1988
To be honest I am myself a little bit suspicious about the glass head you attached.
R.M.
