AN ARCHAIC BLACK JADE CARVING OF A PIG Han DynastyAN ARCHAIC BLACK JADE CARVING OF A PIGHan DynastyOf highly abstract slender form with rounded sides and flat base, the legs and feet delineated by deep slash cuts, the ears pinned back behind small eyes, the snout smoothly rounded, the rump cut flat with a thick pierced tab, the jet-black stone with cloudy mottling softly polished. 4 1/2in (11.5cm) length漢 墨玉豬Jade pigs of this type were used in burials in the Han and throughout the Six Dynasties periods, made in pairs to place in the deceased's hands.Compare the white jade carving of a pig, unearthed from the tomb of Liu Yan (d. A.D. 90) in Dingzhou, Hebei province, now in the collection of the Hebei Provincial Museum, illustrated by Sun in the catalog of the special exhibition, Age of Empires: Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2017, p. 10, fig. 7.