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Height: 6.3 cm,
width: 2.7 cm,
thickness: 2.3 cm
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This figurine is
carved from greenish jade that has turned greyish-white and is speckled brown. The figure
wears a conical crown divided into three levels, and the facial features are distinguished
by slanting eyes and a protruding nose and mouth. Though apparently nude, there is no
indication of gender. The figure kneels with hands clasped in front. The back of the neck
has a hole drilled through it. A similar kneeling figure in stone, three times taller than
this one, was unearthed at a Hung-shan culture site in Inner Mongolia, but the hands and
feet are even more detailed. A seated jade figure with comparable facial features from the
Hung-shan Culture is also in the Chan-chi-hsuan Collection in Taipei, suggesting that this
posture perhaps had some significance.