Eastern Han dynasty(206 BC-AD 220)
Provenance: A Belgian private collection
The rectangular brazier is supported by four bear feet. The flared sides are moulded in low relief with a continuous band of a hunting scene with various animals between chevron bands. Th flat everted rim is spanned by two bars with eight cicadas to be roasted. The base is pierced with rectangular openings to facilitate the burning of the fire. It is covered inside and out with a green glaze with areas of silvery iridescence.
22,8 cm long
A similar brazier was included in the exhibition 'Spirit of Han, Ceramics for the After-Life', Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, Singapore, 1991, Catalogue, no. 136
Although jade cicadas were used as symbols of resurrection, the cicadas on this brazier most likely represent a regional delicacy and may not have a symbolic meaning
