Published: Filippo Salviati, Radiant Stones: Archaic Chinese Jades, Myrna Myers, Paris, 2000, no. 123.

China, 2^nd-1^st century BC. The highly stylized cicada with crisply carved facets, together with the two incised lines near the top and a small notch in the center near the upper section forming the body parts of the insect, the reverse undecorated. The mostly opaque stone of a light gray tone with ivory and dark gray inclusions and veins.

Provenance: From the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection. Sam and Myrna are first generation Americans, who shared a taste for collecting beautiful objects of art. On a trip to Ascona, Switzerland, the couple stumbled into a small antique shop which started their journey of collecting antiques. When Sam Myers was sent to Paris by his law firm in the mid-1960s, he and his wife Myrna became so enamored with the city that they decided to make it their home. There, over the course of 50 years, they built an extraordinary art collection, and in 1976, Myrna opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art. Their collection spans a wide range of precious objects from Chinese jades, ceramics, textiles, Indian ivory carvings, to Japanese clothing and lacquer, some of which was exhibited in the Kimbell Art Museum. Part of their collection was sold at Sotheby’s, London ‘Two Americans in Paris, The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers’, on 4 November 2021. The couple also worked together with jade expert Filippo Salviati to create one of the most outstanding jade collections globally and authored several books on jade, including ‘Radiant Stones’ (2000), ‘The Language of Adornment’ (2002) and ‘Genèse de l’empire céleste’ (2020).
Condition: Very good condition with signs of weathering and erosion, as well as minor nibbling. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.

Weight: 19.3 g
Dimensions: Length 4.5 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a jade cicada, dated Western Han dynasty, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, image number K1C001954N000000000PBB.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 20 September 2021, lot 142
Price: USD 3,825 or approx. EUR 4,100 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A stylized partially calcified celadon jade cicada, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, size (5 cm), simplified stylistic design with three ridges indicating the insects body parts, and undecorated underside.