China, Qing Dynasty, 1644 to 1912 CE. This is a green and reddish brown jade (nephrite) carving of a small seated lamb with fanciful wings and his legs tucked up under himself. Size: 1.6" L x 1" W x 1.25" H (4.1 cm x 2.5 cm x 3.2 cm).

Chinese art has incorporated jade since the Neolithic period; quarries for nephrite, the formal name for jade, have been found in modern-day southern Mongolia that date to ca. 4000 BCE. The stone was prized for its hardness, its beautiful coloration (with a milky white being the most desired), and its durability. By the third millennium BCE, we know that jade had also come to be associated with immortality. Jade was used to make everything from everyday household objects and decoration to the ceremonial suits in which Han dynasty emperors were buried – with the belief that jade would preserve the body and the soul for eternity.

Provenance: Ex-Paul and Louise Bernheimer collection, Cambridge, MA and Laguna Woods, CA., acquired before 1980.

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#111809

Missing a chip from the front.