A PALE CELADON JADE PLAQUE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

of rectangular form, carved in shallow relief with confronted dragons and decorated to one side with Ban Zhao seated and reading a book, the reverse carved with an eleven-character inscription, together with a white jade hairpin of long rectangular form, rounded at one end simulating an unfurling scroll (2) 

Collection of Nina C. Bushnell, acquired between 1960 and 1980 and thence passed on within the family. 

The jade plaque is in overall good condition. The jade hairpin with tiny nicks along the edges but otherwise in overall good condition.
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The person represented on this plaque is Ban Zhao (45-116), the earliest female historian from the Han dynasty. The poem and illustration for this plaque are taken from the book Wushuang pu (Famous and Unique Personages), a collection of images and poems of famous historical figures. First published during the Kangxi emperor's reign, this book was based on the work of the scholar Jin Guliang and immediately became a pattern book for designs of various kinds of works of art in the seventeenth century, including jade carving.