"Art and Technology in a Chinese Gold Cicada Plaque" in Archives of Asian Art 64.1 (2014): 43-57.

Art and Technology in a Chinese Gold Cicada Plaque

Sarah Laursen, Donna Strahan

Archives of Asian Art, Volume 64, Number 1, 2014, pp. 43-57 (Article)

Published by University of Hawai'i PressDOI: 10.1353/aaa.2014.0013

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Art and Technology in a Chinese Gold Cicada Plaque

sarah laursen

Middlebury College

donna strahan

Smithsonian Institution

In 2002, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,acquired an exquisite gold plaque with an image of

a cicada at its center (MMA 2002.255) (Fig. 1). Theplaque is said to be from China and is stylistically simi-lar to several plaques excavated throughout the country,but little or nothing is known of its provenance. Workslike this one often bridge gaps in the archaeologicalrecord but can be frustratingly difficult to understandwithout knowledge of their origins. How then shouldwe treat these objects? Should we disregard them?Omit them from our scholarship? In this paper, we, theauthors—an art historian and an objects conservator—will describe how we have approached this particularobject.1

In the case of this Chinese cicada plaque—one ofmore than thirty in collections across the globe (Table1)—we are fortunate to have enough supporting archae-ological and documentary evidence to allow us to positan approximate date and possibly even a geographicalsource. Although we will never know the precise find-spot of the plaque or to whom it belonged, modern con-servation science has enabled us to learn more than everbefore. Using analytical laboratory techniques such asscanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, andx-ray fluorescence spectrometry, we can discover itsphysical composition and provide an expanded view ofits artistic construction. These findings, in turn, enrichand inform our understanding of the larger body ofcicada plaques in collections in China, Japan, Europe,and the United States.

First, we will provide an overview of the cicadaplaques whose findspots are known. Next, we will inves-tigate the Metropolitan plaque’s materials and methodsof manufacture. Finally, we will explore the form andiconography of the cicada in order to better understandits function in the context of medieval Chinese societyand funerary customs. We hope this first in-depth studyof the cicada plaques will encourage the reexaminationand scientific analysis of plaques at other institutions inthe future.

Cicada Plaques

The Metropolitan plaque consists of a rigid metal back-ing plate overlaid with an openwork gold sheet that hasbeen embellished with semiprecious stones, coral, glass,and extremely fine gold granulation. At seven centimeterstall, its diminutive size belies the extraordinary richnessof its decoration. At its center, an openwork cicada withoutstretched wings is enclosed in a square with roundedcorners and a pinched peak at the center of the upperedge. The insect’s body, viewed from above, is morecompact than one observes in nature, but the details ofits anatomy are otherwise accurate: the abdomen hashorizontal striations, the contour of the body is visible

Fig. 1. Cicada plaque, 4th–5th century ce. Gold with giltcopper backing plate and lapis lazuli, turquoise, coral, andglass inlay, 7 cm� 6.5 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art,Purchase, Bequest of Dorothy Graham Bennett, 2002.2002.255.

Table. Cicada Plaques

Note: The following table includes only the objects currently known to the authors. Additional examples will surelycome to light in the future.

Find site / Collection Date Materials Dimensions

1Excavated from Tomb 6 atXianheguan, Nanjing,Jiangsu

mid-Eastern Jin (317–420 ce)

gold (no backing plate) h. 5.5 cm, w. 4.5–5.2 cm

2Excavated from tomb atNanjing University, Nanjing,Jiangsu

first half of the 4th century gold (no backing plate) h. 4 cm, w. 3–3.7 cm

3Excavated from Tomb 12 atGuojiashan, Nanjing, Jiangsu

ca. 371, mid-Eastern Jin(317–420 ce)

gold with mica backing plate h. 4.35 cm, w. 4.2 cm

4Excavated from west side ofTomb 1 on Xiyanchi Street,Linyi, Shandong

4th century, late WesternJin (265–316 ce) to earlyEastern Jin (317–420 ce)

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate

h. 4.2 cm, w. 3.1–3.8 cm

5Excavated from east side ofTomb 1 on Xiyanchi Street,Linyi, Shandong

4th century, late WesternJin (265–316 ce) to earlyEastern Jin (317–420 ce)


h. 3.8 cm, w. 3.7–3.8 cm

6Found at Linhe, Shunyidistrict, Beijing

Northern dynasties period(386–581 ce)

gold with stone inlay (nowlost)

h. 5 cm, w. 4.8 cm

7Excavated from Tomb 60M1at Xindiantai, Dunhuangcounty, Gansu

369 ce, Former Liang (314–376 ce)

gold with stone inlay (nowlost)

h. 5 cm, w. 4.2 cm

8Excavated from Tomb 1 atXiguanyingzi, Liaoning

ca. 415, Northern Yandynasty (407–436 ce)

gold with grey stone eyes(one now missing)

h. 7.1 cm, w. 6.4–6.9 cm

9Excavated from Tomb 1 atXiguanyingzi, Liaoning

ca. 415, Northern Yandynasty (407–436 ce)

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone eyes

(not indicated)

10University of Iowa Museumof Art, Iowa City

Warring States period (475–221 bce)

bronze, gold foil, turquoiseinlay

h. 6.1 cm, w. 5.4 cm

11University of Iowa Museumof Art, Iowa City

475–221 bcebronze, gold foil, turquoiseinlay

h. 5.7 cm, w. 4.7 cm

12Yamato Bunkakan, Nara,Nara prefecture, Japan

Northern dynasties (386–581ce) or Six Dynasties period(220–589 ce)

gold h. 7.3 cm

13 Yamato Bunkakan, JapanNorthern dynasties (386–581ce) or Six Dynastiesperiod (220–589 ce)

gold h. 6 cm

14 Yamato Bunkakan, JapanNorthern dynasties (386–581ce)

gold (not indicated, under 6 cm)

15Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe,Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Six Dynasties period (220–589 ce)

goldh. 8.4 cm,w. 8.2 cm

16Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe,Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Six Dynasties period (220–589 ce)

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay(now mostly lost)

h. 5.4 cm,w. 4.6 cm

17Muwentang Collection,Hong Kong

Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay(now lost)

h. 7.6 cm


Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay(now lost)

h. 5.6 cm

44 ARCHIVES OF ASIAN ART

Find site / Collection Date Materials Dimensions


Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay(now mostly lost)

h. 5.2 cm


Jin dynasty (265–420 ce) gold with gold backing plate h. 4 cm


Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and turquoiseinly

h. 4 cm

22Metropolitan Museum ofArt, 2002.255

Eastern Jin (317–420 ce)Gold with gilt copper back-ing plate and turquoise, lapis,coral, and glass inlay

h. 7 cm

23

On loan from the Society ofFriends of Asian Art,Rijksmuseum, AK-MAK-41,Amsterdam

Han (206 bce–220 ce) orlater

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay

h. 4.0 cm, w. 3 cm

24Sotheby’s Sale L08211 / Lot39, Kempe ex-coll.

Han (206 bce–220 ce) or SixDynasties period (220–589 ce)


h. 4 cm

25Minneapolis Institute of Arts,C.T. Loo ex-coll.

4th to 5th century, SixDynasties period (220–589 ce)


h. 7.6 cm,w. 6.4 cm

26Pierre Uldry Collection,Museum Rietberg, Zurich

4th–5th century ce,Northern dynasties period(386–581 ce)

gold with bronze backingplate and stone inlay (nowmostly lost)

h. 7.5 cm,w. 7 cm

27Pierre Uldry Collection,Museum Rietberg, Zurich

4th–5th century ce,Northern dynasties period(386–581 ce)

gold with no backing plateh. 4 cm,w. 4.2 cm

28New York private collection,Christies Sale 1877 / Lot 216,Met ex-coll.

Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with lucite backing andturquoise inlay (now mostlylost)

h. 7.6 cm

29New York private collection,Gisele Croes ex-coll.

Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay

h. 6.4 cm, w. 6 cm

30 Christie’s Sale 1163 / Lot 543 4th–5th century ce

gold with bronze backingplate, turquoise inlay (mostlymissing), and traces offeathers on back

h. 5.1 cm

31

Dr. Paul Singer Collection,Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,Washington, D.C.,RLS1997.48.4458

Six Dynasties period (220–589 ce)?

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and turquoiseinlay

h. 6.0 cm

32

Dr. Paul Singer Collection,Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,Washington, D.C.,RLS1997.48.4455

Six Dynasties period (220–589 ce)?


h. 7.3 cm

33 J.J. Lally & Co., New York 4th–5th centurygold with bronze backingplate and stone inlay

h. 4.2 cm

34 J.J. Lally & Co., New York 3rd–5th centurygold with bronze backingplate and stone inlay

h. 5.4 cm

35 Christian Deydier, ParisEastern Jin (317–420 ce),Six Dynasties period (220–589 ce)

gold with (copper? bronze?)backing plate and stone inlay(now lost)

(not indicated)

36 Gisele Croes, Bruxelles Jin dynasty (265–420 ce)Gilt copper, gold, stones, andglass

h. 6.9 cm

Table. Cicada Plaques (continued)

SARAH LAURSEN and DONNA STRAHAN � Art and Technology 45

through the transparent veined wings, and protrudingcompound eyes sit atop the lower portion of the face,with a pair of curling antennae positioned above them.The area on either side of the head has been filled inwith six beaded lines that may represent legs.

Surrounding the perimeter of the central cicada motifare three concentric bands of ornamentation. The inner-most and outermost each contain eighteen inlaid stonesin the shape of mushroom caps, while the band betweenthem holds delicate half-palmette vegetal scrolls inter-spersed with eight triangular groupings of inlaid discs,some of which have been lost. The elaborate layering ofornamental borders and the quantity of stone inlay areunparalleled by any other published example, makingthe Metropolitan cicada plaque unique in its opulence.

Cicada, bird, tiger, and dragon plaques coveredwith granulation, filigree, and inlay have come to lightin tombs dated as early as the fourth century ce. How-ever, the locations, periods, and ranks of the tombsfrom which they were excavated vary considerably.Although a few plaques may have been produced duringthe Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439)—a brief succession ofstates north and west of China’s heartland that wereoften ruled by non-Chinese tribes—the majority comefrom slightly later elite burials concentrated in the south.

This may be because at the end of the Western Jindynasty (265–316), following the sack of Luoyang 洛陽

in 311 and Chang’an 長安 in 316, the remainder of theroyal family fled south to present-day Nanjing 南京

(then known as Jianye 建業 or Jiankang 健康). There,they established the Eastern Jin dynasty in 317, and thenew court-in-exile ruled over the south until 420.

In 2003, a pair of tombs dating to the transitionalperiod between the Western Jin and Eastern Jin was un-covered in Linyi 臨沂, in Shandong Province.2 The twoadjacent chambers of Tomb 1 held the coffins and re-mains of three children: a two-year-old and one-year-old in the east chamber and a six- to seven-year-old inthe west chamber. The excavation report refers to fiveplaques in the tomb, four of which were positionedclose to the children’s bodies, between the head andwaist.3 Although the report does not include photo-graphs of all of them or specify their designs, the twothat are pictured (Figs. 2 and 3) are almost identical tothe central portion of the Metropolitan plaque in bothdesign and size. Neither of the Linyi plaques has decora-tive borders though, and the one from the east chamberis covered in a thick green corrosion and has lost itsprotruding eyes.

Several more tombs containing cicada plaques havebeen uncovered around the Eastern Jin capital in Nanjing,in Jiangsu Province. In 1972, a tomb was uncovered onthe campus of Nanjing University, close to the EasternJin imperial mausolea.4 The burial was disturbed andno epitaphs have survived, so the identities of the twowomen and one man inside remain a mystery. In thepassageway approaching the tomb chamber were foundfour gold plaques—two depicting riders atop dragons,

Fig. 2. Cicada plaque from west chamber of Tomb 1 atXiyanchi in Linyi, Shandong, 4th century. Gold with copperbacking plate, 4.2 cm. From Shandong sheng wenwu kaoguyanjiusuo and Linyi shi wenhua ju, cover.

Fig. 3. Cicada plaque from west chamber of Tomb 1 atXiyanchi in Linyi, Shandong, 4th century. Gold with copper orbronze backing plate, 4.2 cm. From Shandong sheng wenwukaogu yanjiusuo and Linyi shi wenhua ju, 14, fig. 22.


one the face of a snarling beast, and one a cicada (Fig. 4).The excavation report speculates that the four plaqueswould have been arranged around a leather cap, withthe cicada oriented toward the front.

Several miles northeast of the university, in the easternsuburbs of Nanjing, another example was excavated in1998 in a small family cemetery at Xianheguan 仙鶴觀.5

Tomb 6 is an early Eastern Jin tomb thought to belongto Gao Kui 高悝, the father of an official whose epitaphwas recovered from a nearby tomb. Gao was interredwith his wife, and his coffin held a 5.5-centimeter cicadaplaque (Fig. 5). The design is close to the Metropolitanplaque, but the backing plate and hemispherical eyesare missing, and a sawtooth border has been added. Asimilar departure in style is found in the final plaquefrom the Nanjing region, which was discovered in 2001in Tomb 12 at Guojiashan 郭家山, in the city’s northernsuburbs (Fig. 6). An epitaph reveals that this ratherbadly damaged tomb belongs to Wen Shizhi 溫式之,who died in 371. The overall design has been com-pressed slightly, and it has a simple border with granu-lated triangles. More remarkable though, this cicadaplaque and the dragon plaque that accompanied it arethe only known instances in which the backing plate ismade of transparent mica rather than copper alloy.6

Fig. 4. Cicada plaque from the Nanjing University tomb,Nanjing, Jiangsu, first half of 4th century. Gold, 4 cm. FromJiang, 143, fig. 2.

Fig. 5. Cicada ornament from Tomb 6 at Xianheguan,Nanjing, Jiangsu, Mid–Eastern Jin (317–420). Gold, 5.5 cm.From Nanjing shi bowuguan, ‘‘Xianheguan,’’ fig. 41.

Fig. 6. Cicada ornament from Tomb 12 at Guojiashan,Nanjing, Jiangsu, 371. Gold with mica backing, 4.35 cm. FromNanjing shi bowuguan, ‘‘Wen Jiao,’’ pl. 3.3.


Surprisingly, little divergence is seen in the western-most example, which was uncovered near Dunhuang敦煌 in Gansu Province, in a large single-chamberedtomb excavated in 1960 (Fig. 7). The tomb containedthe remains of a woman and an inscription on a ceramicvessel identifying her as Si Xinrong 汜心容, who died in369, when the region was under the control of theFormer Liang dynasty (314–376).7 Although the plaqueis heavily damaged, it is possible to detect a floral borderthat once held groups of inlaid stones, much like thecentral band on the Metropolitan plaque.

Finally, the northernmost and latest cicada plaqueswere unearthed in 1956 from the tomb of NorthernYan (407–436) official Feng Sufu 馮素弗 in Beipiao北票 county in Liaoning Province.8 The two gold open-work plaques are by far the most incongruous exam-ples. Both are square with a peaked upper edge andattached hemispherical eyes that appear to be madefrom stone rather than gold. However, scholars havepaid special attention to the plaque with applied wiresand granulation, which is thought to have been part ofa larger headdress (Fig. 8). According to one reconstruc-tion, the plaque sat at the front of a cloth or leather capwith seams covered by gold strips and a finial withshaking leaves on top.9

Compared with the Metropolitan plaque and othersexcavated in the Nanjing region, the Beipiao plaqueis not particularly well made, nor does it resemble theother plaques in any respect but the silhouette and the

large hemispherical eyes. The openwork lacks the lacyquality of the other examples, and the granulation wasapplied to either side of wires instead of standing indelicate individual columns. In addition, there are nosawtooth or floral borders, no bezels for inlaid stones,nor are there the distinctive antennae, segmented thorax,legs, and striated tail seen elsewhere. The craftsmanshipand design indicate an artisan unfamiliar with the gold-smithing techniques employed in central and westernChina.

Technical Analysis

Technical study of the Metropolitan cicada plaque re-veals its fabrication to be both skillful and sophisticated.The shield-shaped backing plate is formed of a flatcopper sheet 0.9 millimeters thick, but it could not bedetermined whether the sheet was cast or hammered.Compositional analysis by x-ray fluorescence (XRF)10

of the metal surface on the back of the plate determinedthat it is nearly pure copper with no tin and only aminute amount of lead and iron. It is unusual that theplate is not bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, whichis the typical alloy used for Chinese and northern steppeplaques.11 Historically, the Chinese preferred casting over

Fig. 7. Cicada ornament from Tomb 60M1 at Xindiantai,Dunhuang county, Gansu, 369, whereabouts unknown. Goldwith inlaid stones, 5 cm. From Dunhuang wenwu yanjiusuokaogu zu, pl. 3.

Fig. 8. Cicada ornament and finial from the tomb of FengSufu, Xiguanyingzi, Beipiao county, Liaoning, 415 ce. Goldwith one gray stone, 7.1 cm. From Li, pl. 1.


hammering, perhaps because they generally worked withleaded alloys. Pure copper, when it appeared, normallyfulfilled a decorative rather than structural function.For instance, thin copper inlays in ancient bronzes werecast and set into the mold assemblage.12

Pure copper is soft and difficult to cast because itabsorbs gases from the air while molten. Voids or bubblesform throughout the metal when it cools, resulting in aporous material. Adding tin helps to deoxidize the metaland prevent porosity. The addition of lead, on the otherhand, improves the fluidity of the molten metal duringcasting but makes the metal less malleable when it hascooled.13 The small, probably unintentional amount oflead present in this plate would not affect its malle-ability, though. Although uncommon, there are prece-dents for the use of hammered copper sheet in China.A recent study of Qin-dynasty (221–206 bce) bronzebirds found hammered sheet repairs that were carriedout at the time of fabrication.14

XRF analysis, confirmed by scanning electron micros-copy (SEM-EDS),15 found gold with mercury on the frontof the plate, indicating that it was fire gilded. Coppercorrosion products cover most of the plate’s surface,obscuring much of the gilding, but areas are visible inthrough the openings in the cicada’s wings (Fig. 9). Firegilding, or mercury-amalgam gilding, has been used onChinese bronzes since the Warring States period (480–221 bce).16 Liquid mercury and powdered gold are mixedtogether to form a paste, which is then applied to thedesired area and is heated, volatizing most of the mer-cury. The loss of the mercury leaves a porous, roughgold layer that must be burnished to compact it andmake it smooth and reflective. This produces a verythin layer of gold that is bonded to the metal surface. Itis more difficult to fire-gild bronze than copper becauseof its tin and lead content; this may account for theuse of copper instead of bronze in the backing plate.17

Fire-gilding uses far less gold than the much older foil-wrapping technique, used already in the Shang dynasty(ca. 1600–1046 bce), in which a gold foil is applied tothe surface and mechanically held in place using burrsor grooves on the surface of the bronze.

The overlaid openwork is made from a single goldsheet that is 0.1 millimeters thick. SEM-EDS analysisconfirmed the high purity of the gold, with only smallamounts of silver and copper present. The pattern waseither painted or incised onto the sheet in preparation,and jagged cuts along the edge of the sheet indicatethat fine chisels were used. Most of the rough edgeswere then turned under, smoothing their appearanceand strengthening the cut edge. A few locations wherethe cut edge was not completely turned under indicate

the width of the chisel head, which is approximately0.02 centimeters. However, the piercing of the goldsheet probably took place after the addition of bezelsfor inlay.

Inlaid materials are found in the three concentricbands around the plaque and are held in place by bezels,thin flat strips set on their side, perpendicular to thegold sheet. Bezels were first formed individually aroundeach of the shaped and polished inlay stones. The stripswere then fused to the gold sheet by a combination ofcopper salts and an organic binder, such as an animalglue or plant gum.18 The craftsman carefully heatedthe area, causing the organic material to burn off and

Fig. 9. Photomacrograph of cicada’s wing showing thefire-gilded back plate with openwork gold sheet on top (detailof the plaque in Fig. 1). Photo by D. Strahan.


carbonize. At temperatures approaching the meltingpoint of the gold, the copper combines with the gold,locally producing an alloy which melts at a slightly lowertemperature than gold; this allows the bezel and thesheet to fuse at their points of contact without the addi-tion of solder. XRF analysis at the joins indicates ahigher copper content than that of the gold strip andopenwork sheet, confirming the craftsman’s use of fusionrather than soldering.

After the bezels were fused, the final decorative ele-ments were added. Almost the entire openwork sheethas been covered in granulation, small grains of goldbonded to the surface in an ornamental design. Thistechnique was first introduced to China in the secondhalf of the first millennium bce, either through contactwith the nomads of the northern steppes or throughmaritime trade with South and West Asia.19 Most ofthe granulation on the plaque occurs in single linearrows of fine granules, ranging in size from 0.2 to 0.4millimeters in diameter. Granules lining the outside ofthe bezels are the smallest, with a diameter of 0.2 milli-meters. Besides these linear designs, massed granules ofsimilar sizes fill the leaves that run around the middleconcentric band. The legs and antennae of the cicadahave granules that graduate from 0.8 millimeters indiameter down to 0.2 millimeters. Two larger granules,0.6 millimeters in diameter, sit in the top and bottom ofpinched columns that separate each mounted stone inthe outer band.

The granules were produced by heating small chipsor shavings of gold; when the gold reaches its meltingpoint, surface tension causes it to retract into a ball.The granules were then individually placed in shallowtroughs or depressions pressed into the gold sheet (Fig.10). To understand how the granules were attached tothe openwork sheet, XRF analysis was carried out inthe area surrounding the granules. The area was pre-dominantly gold with a higher copper content thanthe gold sheet, indicating that the granules—like the

bezels—were probably coated in a combination ofcopper salts and an organic binder and then fused tothe gold sheet. The cicada’s eyes are not granules buthollow die-formed gold hemispheres measuring 3.5 milli-meters across. Their shape and construction are unlikethose of any other published cicada plaque, indicatingthat they may be modern replacements. However, fur-ther examination is needed to confirm or eliminate thispossibility.

Once the hot work was complete and the openworkdesign was cut, the gold tabs were bent around theedges of the gilded plate (Fig. 11). Originally approxi-mately twenty tabs held the sheet onto the plate, buttoday only ten remain. Because turquoise, coral, andpossibly lapis would be destroyed at high temperatures,they must have been set into the bezels at this stage. Alead paste, identified by XRF, was used to hold thestones in place and fill any gaps around the bezel wall.It was most likely a lead pigment mixed as a bulkingagent with an organic material, which XRF cannot de-tect, but this is still being investigated. The inlay stonesdo not fill the bezels well, indicating that more of thepaste was originally present but has since deteriorated(Fig. 12).

The inlays were identified by x-ray diffraction (XRD),XRF, and with the aid of the binocular microscope.20

The pale pink stones were identified as magnesium

Fig. 10. Photomacrograph of the massed granules on a leafand the chiseled and turned edges of the openwork sheet (detailof plaque in Fig. 1). Photo by D. Strahan.

Fig. 11. Reverse of the plaque in Fig. 1. Photo byD. Strahan.


calcite, a form of calcium carbonate. Both their struc-ture, visible under the binocular microscope, and theircomposition confirm that they were carved from a pinkvariety of coral. According to Chinese historical records,pink coral was imported from the Mediterranean Seavia India prior to the Tang dynasty (618–907).21 Thesky-blue stones were identified as turquoise and someof the mottled dark blue stones as lapis lazuli of varyingquality. The only source of the latter stone in antiquitywas Afghanistan, so it must have been imported fromthere. Turquoise, however, was more widely available,having sources in China, Tibet, Central Asia, and Iran.

The darkest blue stones were identified as leadedglass containing high amounts of barium and iron. Glassin the West at this time was typically a soda-lime-silicavariety not containing any significant amount of barium,

and lead was added only with certain colorants. Glasswith a high lead content accompanied by high barium(lead barium silicate) was exclusively produced in Chinaduring this time period.22 Therefore, these inlay pieceswere not imported and were probably cast into theircurrent shapes using molds. However, some of thestones were either recently replaced and/or reattachedwith a modern adhesive prior to arriving in the museum.In particular, several inlays were replaced with whitefeldspar coated with traces of pink-toned titanium whitepaint, probably in imitation of the original coral pieces.

There is one more important detail located just belowthe eyes of the cicada: two 1.0-millimeter-diameter holesthrough the thin backing plate that were used to attachthe plaque to a support (Fig. 13). On the back of theplaque, surrounding one of the holes, is a pseudomorphof either felt or leather, and on top of this are the pseu-domorphic remains of a plain weave textile (Fig. 14).An unknown material was used to tie the plaque to thesupport, but has left only copper corrosion productscovering the gilded surface between the two holes onthe front of the plaque. As we shall see, these holes andimpressions of fabric may offer important clues as tohow this plaque was used and why it carries the cicadamotif.

Cicada Imagery

Cicada imagery has a long history in China, but it is notunique to East Asia. The bizarre life cycle of these insectsof the Hemiptera order made them a potent symbol for

Fig. 12. Photomacrograph of lapis lazuli set in a bezel withlead paste (detail of plaque in Fig. 1). Photo by D. Strahan.

Fig. 13. The two holes just below the cicada’s eyes used toattach it to a support (detail of plaque in Fig. 1). Photo byD. Strahan.

Fig. 14. Back of the plaque with remains of a plain weavetextile to which the plaque (see Fig. 1) was attached. Photo byD. Strahan.


many ancient societies. Adults lay their eggs in the stemsof plants, and when the nymphs hatch, they burrow intothe ground, where they subsist on the sap of roots fora period of several months to seventeen years. Thenymphs return to the surface as adults at the beginningof the summer, lay eggs, and expire by the end ofsummer.23 The sudden materialization of swarms ofadult cicadas from the earth must have evoked ideasof rebirth for the ancient Chinese because jade cicadaswere placed in the graves of the deceased as early as theNeolithic period. Specimens have also been uncoveredat the late Shang dynasty site of Yinxu 殷墟 in HenanProvince (Fig. 15),24 and the practice survived at leastas late as the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) (Fig.16).25 These early cicada images, which were most oftenplaced in the mouth of the deceased, were carved fromjade or a similarly hard stone, linking them to ideas ofpermanence and immortality.

In later periods the cicada also played an importantrole in official court costume. The dynastic histories recordthat gold cicada ornaments were worn by high-rankingofficials of the Chinese court beginning in the Handynasty. In 59 ce, Emperor Ming 明 (r. 58–75) of theEastern Han dynasty (25–220) implemented a rigidly

hierarchical dress code for all civil and military officialsat court. These regulations, which included specifica-tions about the design, measurements, and functions ofvarious caps, were recorded by Sima Biao 司馬彪 (d.306) in the Yufu zhi 輿服誌 (Record of Chariots andRobes), a treatise appended to the Hou Han shu 後漢

書. This catalogue is the earliest to describe accessoriesindividually and systematically, and its contents allowscholars to link excavated materials to specific terminol-ogy. The entry in the Yufu zhi concerning the tongtianguan 通天冠, for example, refers to a gold decorative el-ement called a shan 山.26 Several plaques excavatedfrom tombs or depicted in sculpture and wall paintingsshare the peaked silhouette of this character, affirmingthe correlation between the written and archaeologicalrecords.

In other passages of the Yufu zhi, the plaque wornat the front of official caps is described as a dang 璫.This dang is featured in the wu guan 武冠 (‘‘militarycap’’), which is described as follows: ‘‘Palace Attendantsand Regular Palace Attendants added a gold dang thattakes a cicada as its design and a marten tail as an orna-ment’’ ( 侍中、中常侍加黃金璫，附蟬為文，貂尾為飾).27

A wall painting in the 570 tomb of the Northern Qi(550–577) official Lou Rui 娄睿, in which a martentail projects from the side of a shan-shaped plaqueon the headgear of a door guardian, corroborates thisdescription.28

Fig. 15. Cicada, Yinxu, Anyang, Henan, Shang dynasty(ca. 1600–1046 bce). Stone, 2.7 cm. Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, 70AGXM105:7.From Zhongguo shehui kexue kaogu yanjiusuo, ed., 85.

Fig. 16. Cicada, China, Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). Jade.Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,D.C., Gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.928.


The Yufu zhi passage goes on to describe the foreignorigins of the plaque: ‘‘They called it the ‘Zhao Huiwen’趙惠文 cap. Hu Guang 胡廣 explained: ‘King Wuling武靈 of Zhao imitated barbarian dress. He adorned hishead with gold dang, and in front he inserted a martentail to indicate noble office. When Qin destroyed Zhao,[Qin] bestowed Lord [Zhao]’s cap on the courtiers closeto the throne’’’ ( 謂之「趙惠文冠」。胡廣說曰：「趙武

靈王效胡服，以金璫飾首，前插貂尾，為貴職。秦滅趙，

以其君冠賜近臣。」)29 Zhao Huiwen was the son andsuccessor of Zhao Wuling; he presumably passed downthe tradition until Qin vanquished Zhao in 222 bce andthey too adopted the use of this cap for high-rankingofficials.

Although the gold cicada plaques of the Jin andlater dynasties clearly represent a continuation of theearlier funerary tradition, there also may be an elementof truth to the Yufu zhi’s claim that the custom wasadopted from abroad. Jade and occasionally glasscicadas continued to be placed in the mouths of thedead in tombs throughout the Han dynasty, but thesewere significantly different in design and proportionfrom the gold cicada plaques. The stone cicadas arelong, narrow, and abbreviated in form, with eyes,wings, and abdomens indicated by simple incised lines.Ovular eyes protrude from the far upper edge of thehead, and the wings are tucked closely against the bodyin a way that obscures any striations of the thorax andabdomen. In contrast, the wings of the Metropolitancicada are unfolded and held away from the body, and

the prominent eyes sit at the base of the head. Thesemodifications may have resulted from the contact be-tween the foreigners (hu 胡) and the state of Zhao thatis described in the Yufu zhi.

Cicada imagery has strong precedents in the Mediter-ranean, where the droning insects are mentioned re-peatedly in the literature of ancient Greece and Rome.In addition to being linked to mythology about Apollo,the Muses, Athena, and the Nymphs, cicadas werecherished for their song, which intensified during thehottest days of the summer, leading to their associationwith the rising of Sirius, the brightest star in the nightsky. The gregarious insects graced the brooches andcoins of Athens, where they were taken up as a symbolof the Athenian people’s local origins because theyseemed to spontaneously materialize out of the groundupon reaching maturity.30 Athenian historian Thucydides(ca. 460–ca. 395 bce) observed that the wealthy oldermen of Athens and Ionia had a custom of tying theirhair in a topknot and securing it with a pin in the formof a cicada.31

A noteworthy parallel to the Chinese plaques isfound in the repousse cicada that sits atop a small split-pin fastener at the center of a fourth century bce oak-leaf wreath in the British Museum, which is said tohave come from a tomb on the Dardanelles in northwestTurkey (Fig. 17). Two additional cicadas sit on eitherside of the crown; their die-formed wings with raisedveins were made separately and soldered onto theirbacks.32 Another cicada appears at the center of a goldolive wreath in the Berlin State Museums (Fig. 18).33

Fig. 17. Detail of cicada split-pin clasp from a gold oak leafwreath, said to be from the Dardanelles, Turkey. 4th centurybce. British Museum, 1908.414.1. 6 Trustees of the BritishMuseum.

Fig. 18. Wreath, Asia Minor, East Greek, 350–300 bce.

Gold with emerald olive. Antikensammling, Berlin StateMuseums, 30219,497. Presented by F.L. von Gans in 1912.6 Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – PreußischerKulturbesitz. Photo by Johannes Laurentius.


The cicada, resting at the center of a flower made fromthree stacked rosettes, is almost identical to the BritishMuseum insect, except for the addition of six legs madefrom bent wire. Although the cicadas on these Hellenisticwreathes could not have been direct prototypes for theChinese cicada plaques, they are far closer in shape anddesign than any other gold artifacts found in Eurasia,suggesting that a transmission of gold cicada imagerywas possible in the second half of the first millenniumbce. The subsequent diffusion throughout China seemsto have taken place after the Han dynasty, by the fourthcentury ce.

Additional clues about the social functions of theChinese cicada plaques are to be found in painted andsculptural depictions of them. Cicadas are pictured on theheaddresses of several emperors in the famous ThirteenEmperors Scroll in the collection of the Museum of FineArts, Boston, which is attributed to Tang dynasty (618–907) painter Yan Liben 閻立本.34 This silk handscrolldepicting the emperors of past dynasties features Em-peror Wu 武 (r. 265–290) of the Eastern Jin dynastywearing a rectangular mortarboard strung with twelvestrands of white beads signifying his rank, as well asa yellow cicada plaque set against a red backgroundat the front of the cap (Fig. 19). Similar plaques also

appear in the scenes depicting Emperor Guangwu 光武

(r. 25–57) of the Han dynasty, whose reign ended justtwo years before Emperor Ming’s reforms, and fiveothers. It is unclear whether the portraits accuratelyreflect the costumes that were current in their lifetimes,or were simply a shorthand devised by a Tang artist tosignal an earlier time.

Even more perplexing are three stone bodhisattvasfrom Shandong Province whose crowns are decoratedwith cicadas (Fig. 20). The statues—one collected at theLonghuasi 龍華寺 Temple site in Chongde 崇德 village,and two excavated in 1996 from the Longxingsi Temple龍興寺 site in Qingzhou 青州 city—all date in the earlyto mid-sixth century, from the late Northern Wei (386–534) to early Eastern Wei (534–550) periods.35 Al-though the placement of the cicada in the headdresswas most likely appropriated from the earlier con-vention of official court dress, it is tempting to read thecicada in this Buddhist context also as a symbol ofrebirth. These statues indicate that by the early sixthcentury headgear with cicada motifs had a rather broadset of applications and possible meanings.

Conclusion

The Metropolitan plaque is one of more than thirty ex-amples of a fairly standard shape and size, ranging from

Fig. 19. Attributed to Yan Liben (China, ca. 600–673),‘‘Emperor Wu of Jin,’’ of the Thirteen Emperors Scroll (detail),Tang dynasty, second half of the 7th century. Handscroll, inkand color on silk, 51.3 cm� 531 cm. Museum of Fine Arts,Boston, Denman Waldo Ross Collection, 31.643.

Fig. 20. Bodhisattva with cicada crown, Longxingsi, Qingzhou,Shandong, Northern Wei (386–534) to Eastern Wei (534–550).Limestone with gold and pigment, 113 cm. From: Qingzhou shibowuguan, cat. no. 148. Photo by Wang Shude.


3.8 to 7.6 centimeters tall. The museum has most likelydated it to the fourth to fifth century ce because severalcicada plaques have been excavated from Eastern Jindynasty tombs in the Nanjing area. This date is con-sistent with the materials and construction techniquesfound in the plaque itself: fire gilding began by the thirdcentury bce, barium-rich glass was cast (but not blown)by the second century bce, and coral probably began toarrive from the Mediterranean through maritime tradevia India during the Han dynasty. The wearing of cicadacaps reportedly began as early as the Warring Statesperiod, but the official dress code was mandated in thefirst century ce and first recorded in detail in the latethird or early fourth century.

The concentric decorative borders of inlaid stonesand high level of workmanship make this plaque morelavish than all of the excavated examples, suggestingthat its owner might have been of higher stature. If theThirteen Emperors Scroll is an accurate portrayal ofroyal costume, then the emperor himself may even haveworn such a plaque. However, because a nearly identi-cal example appeared on the art market in 2013, weknow that the Metropolitan plaque is not the only oneof its kind.36 The two holes at the center and the pseu-domorph on the back confirm that it was attached tofabric, which is consistent with the documentary evidenceprovided by the Yufu zhi, the Thirteen Emperors Scroll,and the Buddhist statues from Shandong Province.

While it is clear that cicada plaques connoted officialstatus when worn on the caps of the living, discerningtheir funerary function is somewhat more complicated.The Nanjing tombs that yielded plaques all appear tohave contained adult male occupants who could con-ceivably have worn the plaques at court during theirlifetimes, but the Dunhuang tomb contained a woman’sremains, and the tombs in Linyi belonged to children.This suggests that not all of the plaques found furtherfrom the political centers of the Jin dynasty were tied tothis court-centered function. A memorial to the thronerecorded in the commentary of the Yufu zhi complainsthat the court-mandated costumes of officials residingoutside the court were not adhering to regulations, im-plying that only the costumes of the emperor, his family,and his closest officials were produced under directcourt supervision, probably by a specialized workshop.37

We might then begin to identify two groups ofobjects: one apparently regulated by the Eastern Jincourt and produced by official workshops in Nanjing,and a second group found on the periphery whose func-tion may have been more symbolic. It is probable thatthe Metropolitan plaque, with its superior artistry andexotic materials, was made in the imperial workshops.On the opposite end of the spectrum, the poorly con-

structed plaques from the tomb of Feng Sufu, whichbear only a passing resemblance to the cicada plaquesof Nanjing, were probably made locally by MurongXianbei 慕容鮮卑 artisans to lend the burial of aNorthern Yan official the prestige of Jin court dress.

As more artifacts come to light though excavationsand more plaques pass through conservation labs fortechnical study, we hope it will be possible to clarifythe composition of artists’ materials and expand ourcurrent understanding of construction techniques, leadingto new conclusions about the Chinese cicada plaques,their wearers, and their makers.

Sarah Laursen is an assistant professor of History of Artand Architecture at Middlebury College and the RobertP. Youngman Curator of Asian Art at the MiddleburyCollege Museum of Art. Her recent publications include‘‘Caps and Crowns in East Asian Diplomacy,’’ in NMK2012 Museum Network Fellowship Research Papers(Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2013). She is cur-rently researching the origins of goldsmithing acrossEast Asia. [[email protected]]

Donna Strahan is Head of the Department of Conserva-tion and Scientific Research, Freer Gallery of Art andArthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,Washington, D.C. Her recent publications include‘‘Technical Observations on Casting Technology inFirst-Millennium Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam’’with Lawrence Becker and Ariel O’Connor in LostKingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early South-east Asia, by John Guy (New York: The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, 2014), and Wisdom Embodied: ChineseBuddhist and Daoist Sculpture in The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, with Denise Patry Leidy (New Haven:Yale University Press, 2010). She is currently research-ing mercury emissions from carved Chinese lacquerobjects. [[email protected]]

Notes

1. This paper will not address the rampant problem oflooting of archaeological sites and the flourishing antiq-uities market in China, nor does it intend to justify theacquisition of unprovenanced antiquities. Both authorsand their respective institutions respect and follow theacquisitions guidelines of the 1970 UNESCO Conventionon the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the IllicitImport, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of CulturalProperty.

2. Shandong sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 山東省文

物考古研究所 and Linyi shi wenhua ju 臨沂市文物局,‘‘Shandong Linyi Xiyanchi Jin mu’’ 山東臨沂洗硯池晉墓


(Excavation of a Western Jin tomb at Xiyanchi in Linyi,Shandong), Wenwu 文物 2005.7: 4–37.

3. The text of the excavation report describing thelocations of the plaques is inconsistent with the line draw-ings. The former states that there were four in the eastchamber and only one in the west chamber. However, theplans (p. 5, fig. 2, and p. 6, fig. 3) show three in the eastchamber and two in the west chamber.

4. Nanjing Daxue lishi xi kaogu zu 南京大學歷史系考

古族, ‘‘Nanjing Daxue beiyuan Dong Jin mu’’ 南京北園晉

墓 (An Eastern Jin tomb on the north campus of NanjingUniversity), Wenwu, 1973.4: 36–50. Reprinted and revisedin Jiang Zanchu 將贊初, ed., Changjiang zhong xiayoulishi kaogu lunwenji 長江中下游歷史考古論文集 (Collectedessays on the archaeology and history of the middle andlower regions of the Yangzi River) (Beijing: Kexue chu-banshe, 2002), 139–53.

5. Nanjing shi bowuguan 南京市博物館, ‘‘JiangsuNanjing Xianheguan Dong Jin mu’’ 江蘇南京仙鶴関東晉墓

(Eastern Jin tomb at Xianheguan, in Nanjing, Jiangsu),Wenwu 文物, 2001.3: 5–40.

6. Nanjing shi bowuguan 南京市博物館, ‘‘Nanjing beijiao Dong Jin Wen Qiao mu’’ 南京北郊東晉溫嶠墓 (TheEastern Jin tomb of Wen Qiao in the northern suburbs ofNanjing), Wenwu 文物, 2001.7: 19–33.

7. Dunhuang wenwu yanjiusuo kaogu zu 敦煌文物研

究所考古族, ‘‘Dunhuang Jin mu’’ 敦煌晉墓 (The Jin tombsat Dunhuang), Kaogu 考古, 1974.3: 191–99.

8. Li Yaobo 黎瑤渤, ‘‘Liaoning Beipiao xian Xiguanyingzi Bei Yan Feng Sufu mu’’ 遼寧北票縣西官营子北燕馮

素弗墓 (The Northern Yan tomb of Feng Sufu at XiguanVillage in Beipiao County, Liaoning), Wenwu 文物, 1973.3:2–30.

9. James C. Y. Watt, ‘‘Art and History in China fromthe Third to the Eighth Century,’’ in China: Dawn of aGolden Age, 200–750 AD, ed. James C. Y. Watt (NewYork: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), 15, fig. 9.

10. Analysis was carried out by Federico Caro, re-search scientist, and Donna Strahan, conservator, Metro-politan Museum of Art, using a Bruker Artax 400 x-rayfluorescence spectrometer equipped with a rhodium tube.Analyses were performed with a 0.65 mm collimator at30kV, 900 mA, and live time acquisition varying between100 and 120 seconds. This instrument permits the non-invasive elemental analysis of surfaces of a broad range ofmaterials. Since XRF and SEM-EDS are non-destructiveand do not penetrate to any significant degree below thesample surface, all the analyses refer only to the surfacecomposition. In addition, XRF results provide only quali-tative compositional information. In the case of the back-ing plate, while an area on the side with little corrosionwas selected for XRF analysis, it may not be representativeof the underlying metal.

11. Nearly all of the plaques in Emma C. Bunker,Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The EugeneV. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections (New

York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002) are iden-tified as bronze although it is unknown how they wereidentified. Thomas Chase states that Chinese copper alloyswere bronze up until the early sixteenth century, whenbrass came into common use; see W. Thomas Chase,Ancient Chinese Bronze Art: Casting the Precious SacralVessel (New York: China Institute of America, 1991), 22.

12. Ibid., 35.13. Ibid., 21–22.14. Shao Anding, ‘‘A Study of Ancient Repair Techni-

ques of Bronze Birds from the First Emperor’s Mauso-leum,’’ paper presented at the International Seminar onBronze of the Qin and the Northern Region, at EmperorQinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, Xi’an, China,August 2012.

15. The plaque and inlays were also analyzed usingenergy dispersive x-ray spectrometry in the SEM-EDS byMark Wypyski, research scientist, Department of ScientificResearch, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Analyses wereperformed using an Oxford Instruments INCA Energy300 Microanalysis System, operated with a LEO ElectronMicroscopy model 1455VP variable pressure scanningelectron microscope. As noted by Wypyski, surface analysisof archaeological gold, even on a clean area, is notoriousfor being inaccurate, mainly due to depletion of copperand, to some extent silver, from the alloy. The only wayto get a more reliable analysis of the alloy would be totake a sample, which would almost certainly show highercopper and silver content.

16. Paul Jett and W. Thomas Chase, ‘‘The Gilding ofMetals in China,’’ in Gilded Metals: History, Technologyand Conservation, ed. Terry Drayman-Weisser (London:Archetype Publications, 2002), 145–55.

17. Paul Jett, ‘‘A Study of the Gilding of Chinese Bud-dhist Bronzes,’’ in Metal Plating & Patination: Cultural,Technical & Historical Developments, ed. Susan La Nieceand Paul Craddock (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann,1993), 193–200.

18. Oppi Untracht, Jewelry Concepts and Technology(New York: Doubleday & Company, 1985), 348–55.

19. Bunker, Nomadic Art of the Eastern EurasianSteppes, 114.

20. Federico Caro, research scientist, performed x-raydiffraction analysis of selected stones. The plaque wasmounted inside a Philips PW1830 open-architecture x-raydiffractometer, paying attention to positioning a somewhatflat portion of each analyzed gem at the center of thediffractometer axis. Patterns were collected between 5Nand 60N 2y using Cu Ka radiation, a 0.02N step size, and acontinuous scan rate of 1.2N per minute.

21. Liu Xinru, Ancient India and Ancient China:Trade and Religious Exchanges AD 1–600 (Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press, 1988), 54–57.

22. Robert H. Brill, Stephen S.C. Tong, and DorisDohrenwend, ‘‘Chemical Analysis of Some Early ChineseGlasses,’’ in Scientific Research in Early Chinese Glass.


Proceedings of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijing, September7, 1984, ed. Robert H. Brill and John H. Martin (Corning,NY: The Corning Museum of Glass, 1991), 31–58.

23. W. R. Dolling, Hemiptera (Oxford: Oxford Uni-versity Press, 1991), 151.

24. Zhongguo shehui kexue kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會

科學考古研究所, ed., Anyang Yinxu chutu yuqi 安陽殷墟出

土玉器 (Jades Excavated from Yinxu at Anyang) (Beijing:Kexue chubanshe, 2005), 85, 86.

25. Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithicto the Qing (London: British Museum, 1995).

26. Chen Maotong 陳茂同, ed., Zhongguo lidai yiguanfushi zhi 中國歷代衣冠服飾制 (Chinese Historical Systemsof Dress and Personal Adornment) (Tianjin: Baihua wenyichubanshe, 2005), 55; Fan Ye 範曄, ‘‘Yufu zhi’’ 輿服誌

(Record of Chariots and Robes), juan 120, Hou Han shu後漢書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), 2665–66.

27. Ibid.28. Taiyuan shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 太原市文物

考古研究所, ed., Bei Qi Lou Rui mu 北齐娄睿墓 (TheNorthern Qi tomb of Lou Rui) (Beijing: Wenwu chu-banshe, 2004), 29, pl. 14.

29. Fan Ye 範曄, ‘‘Yufu zhi’’ 輿服誌 (Record of Chariotsand Robes), 3668; B. J. Mansvelt Beck, The Treatises ofLater Han: Their Author, Sources, Contents, and Place inChinese Historiography (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990), 248–49.See also Yoshito Harada, Chinese Dress and PersonalOrnaments in the Han and Six Dynasties (Tokyo: ToyoBunko, 1976), 28.

30. Ian C. Beavis, Insects and Other Invertebrates inClassical Antiquity (Exeter: University of Exeter; 1988),97, 101, 103.

31. Ibid., 97, and Thucydides, History of the Pelo-ponnesian War, trans. C. Foster Smith (New York: G. P.Putnam’s Sons, 1919), 11.

32. Jack Ogden and Defri Williams, Greek Gold:Jewelry of the Classical World (New York: Harry N.Abrams, 1994), 106–7, cat. no. 60, inv. no. GR 1908.4-14.1.

33. Gertrude Plazt-Horster, Altes Museum AncientGold Jewelry, trans. Michael Vickers and Mira Hofmann(Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2002), 58–59, cat. no. 35, inv. no. 30219, 497.

34. The Thirteen Emperors (Boston: Museum of FineArts, Boston, 2012). See http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-thirteen-emperors-29071 (accessed June 26, 2014).

35. Chugoku Santo-sho no butsuzo: Asuka-butsuno omokage 中国山東省の仏像：飛鳥仏の面影 (Buddhistsculptures from Shandong Province, China: Vestiges ofthe Asuka Buddha) (Shiga-ken: Miho Museum, 2007), cat.nos. 18, 23, 27. Also see, Qingzhou shi bowuguan 青州市博

物馆, Qingzhou Longxingsi fojiao zaoxiang yishu 青州龍興

寺佛教造像兿術 (Carved Buddhist Art from Longxingsiin Qingzhou) (Jinan: Shandong Meishu chubanshe, 1999),cat. no. 148.

36. See the advertisement on the front page of theAsian Art Newspaper from March 2013.

37. B. J. Mansvelt Beck, The Treatises of Later Han:Their Author, Sources, Contents, and Place in ChineseHistoriography (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990), 265–66.


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"Art and Technology in a Chinese Gold Cicada Plaque" in Archives of Asian Art 64.1 (2014): 43-57.

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