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Flying Boy

Flying male in the garb of a long sleeve dancer
  • Pale green opaque jade with light calcification and spots of russet brown; widespread pitting.
  • Dress is that of a dancer with long sleeves, an old tradition going back to Zhou period; male dancers are less common though.
  • The carving is in relief with parallel grooves on the sleeves and robe, and incised lines for decoration.
  • Style is unknown.
  • 6.73 x 4.48 x 1.14 cm.
Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jades, 1995, pp. 333-334, describes a carving of a 'flying boy' . Her carving has a completely different pose (it is similar to the apsara) but may shed light on this one.
She relates such figures (of jade maidens and jade boys) to tales of the Daoist immortals who inhabit a paradise of perfection.
 
This carving seems to be an amalgam of these two traditions (the dancer and the flying divinity). It certainly has some age, but much is unknown.
 
 
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