The story of Richard Hughes’ four-decade adventure with jade, from Burma’s jadeite mines to China’s classic mutton-fat nephrite deposits at Hetian, Xinjiang Province. The work of China’s modern jade carving masters is also discussed.

On the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin’-fishes play, An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!

Rudyard Kipling, Mandalay

My journey into jade started at age 18, when a friend invited me to travel with him to Europe. One thing led to another; Europe became Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and India, and by 1977, I found myself in the dusty upcountry town of Mandalay, Burma. It was there that I saw my first piece of jade. I was smitten and resolved then and there to become a jade trader. Why, I’m not quite sure. I guess it just seemed so damned exotic. Little did I know that I would have a destiny with jade. Now – 43 years on – I’ve spent much of my life working with this stone. As I look back upon that road, I am still stunned at how every twist and turn revealed new secrets, new adventures, new friends. What follows is my story of a lifetime spent in pursuit of heaven.

Road Trips

By 1979, I was living in Bangkok and studying gemology. I ad found my calling. This was a subject so fascinating, I lived, breathed every bit I could get, from books to magazines to the stories shared with me by colleagues and mentors. But there is only so much one can learn staying in place. So, I traveled. Burma, India, Sri Lanka, wherever there were gems, I went. Many journeys were made to the Thai/Burmese border outpost of Mae Sot, for this was a major entry point for gems squeezing out to freedom. As I closed my eyes at night, it was not sugarplums, but dancing rubies, sapphires, spinels and jades that moved through my head. My dream was to visit the sources of these gems. But that would have to wait.

Maori Greenstone

In the early 1990s, I was invited to lecture in New Zealand. One day walking down an Auckland street, I happened upon a small shop selling jade. At the time I had only a cursory knowledge of what the Maori’s called pounamu, a green nephrite from the South Island. But in this little shop, I discovered another world, the most beautiful carved jades I had ever laid eyes upon. As I purchased one for my wife, Wimon, the shop assistant told me that I had made an excellent choice, relating that the piece had been carved by none other than Donn Salt, New Zealand’s premier jade carver. I exited not just with the carving, but also with a book written by Salt celebrating New Zealand’s talented carvers. Their work was so fresh and contemporary, it left a lasting impression on me.

Opportune

That opportunity finally happened in 1996. Coming back to Mandalay from Mogok, I asked a military officer if my friend and I could visit the jade mines. When he said yes, I had to stop myself from immediately kissing his feet.

The result was a series of epic journeys to the jade mines, opening to the Western gemological world a place that had not been visited by outsiders since Eduard Gübelin in the early 1960s. From that point on, I was on a mission to learn as much as possible about this incredible stone we call jade.

Defining Jade – More Than Just a Stone

Certain natural materials have been collected and admired by humans since the dawn of time. Gold is noted for its rarity, malleability and ability to avoid oxidation.

For these reasons, it has been prized by virtually all cultures and peoples. But while gold has been highly sought after, it did not attain a status of supreme reverence. For that type of adulation, we must look to another product from the earthly realm: jade.

Yü, the Chinese word for jade, is one of the oldest in the Chinese language with its pictograph (玉) said to have originated in 2950 BC, when the transition from knotted cords to written signs occurred. The pictograph represents three pieces of jade, pierced and threaded with a string that together represent virtue, beauty and rarity. The addition of the dian stroke (dot) completes the character and distinguishes it from 王 (wăng), the character for emperor. Just how fundamental this character is in the Chinese language is illustrated by the modern form of the character for kingdom, 国 (guó), which has the jade character enclosed in a boundary to represent “country.” Thus the jade character is a component of the name for the country of China: Zhongguo, 中国. The English name jade comes from the Spanish piedra de ijada, literally “stone of the flank of the lower back,” from the Mesoamerican native belief that jade combats kidney ailments.

A Tale of Two Gems

For some eight thousand years, jade has been treasured by the Chinese. While there are a number of different sources in China, the most important are the White Jade (Yurungkash) and Black (a.k.a. Green) Jade (Karakash) Rivers near the town of Hetian (和田; a.k.a. Khotan) in western China’s Xinjiang Province (Chinese Turkestan).

From these deposits comes a creamy white to greenish stone, with the most valuable being pure white, termed “mutton fat.” Sitting astride one of the old Silk Roads, it first entered China proper via traders from Central Asia. While the discovery of jadeite jade in Myanmar dates back to the 6th Century ad or earlier, and its first entry into China was dated by British Sinologist William Warry in the 13th Century (Hertz, 1912), it did not come into prominence until the Qing Dynasty (1644–1914).

When Emperor Qianlong saw a piece of this white-to-bright green jade, he was besotted. Learning it came from a wild country south of Yunnan, he sent columns of troops down to secure a supply. But even the crack Chinese armies were no match for the difficult terrain and fierce Kachin hill people. They returned empty handed, beaten back by malaria, mud and tribespeople who toyed with the outsiders from the north. Thereafter, Chinese traders generally never attempted to venture into the hills to the mines, content to deal with the Kachin on the comparatively tranquil plains at Mogaung.

The Chinese understood this material was different from the Hetian jade, and named the vivid green variety fei cui (翡翠) or kingfisher jade, due to its resemblance to the color of the feathers of the kingfisher bird.

Mutton-Fat Jade

In the Western world, the term jade today is used for two different rocks, jadeite and nephrite. However, in China, traditionally, there were four “great jades”: Hetian jade (nephrite; Xinjiang province), Xiuyan jade (serpentine; Xiuyan, Liaoning province), Dushan jade (rock mixture of anorthite, zoisite and hornblende; Nanyang, Henan province) and turquoise (Yun, Hubei province). Considering just jadeite and nephrite, while each of these cousins shares certain characteristics, in other ways, they could not be less alike. Yin/Yang. They are two entirely different bridges to heaven.

Although I have been involved with jade since 1977, it was only when I visited China’s famous Guangzhou jade market in 2009 that I was exposed to Chinese mutton-fat jade (nephrite). It was love at first sight; now I better understood the deeper attraction of jade.

While I once believed that only jadeite had high value as a gem material, this opinion was born of ignorance. The white Chinese nephrite is a lovely gem material possessing a sublime beauty all its own and today fetches prices that sometimes compete with the finest imperial jadeite.

Today, this “mutton-fat” jade from Hetian is considered to be the finest in the world, with the highest prices being paid for white stones from the rivers. Material quarried nearby from hard rock mines is much less valuable as it may have hidden cracks and it lacks the natural surface staining of the river stones that is prized by carvers.

Whereas jadeite is lipsticked gloss and neon, the beauty of Chinese nephrite involves a far different experience, where depth and feeling rule. Having now experienced both worlds, I must say that, as I grow older, I tend to be drawn more to the world of Hetian jade. Burmese jadeite is bikini eye candy. In contrast, Hetian jade involves hidden beauty, and thus discovered via sweet caress and touch. Even the manner in which the gems are displayed is radically different.

Jadeite struts her stuff under gaudy lights surrounded by the sparkle of diamonds; in contrast, nephrite is placed in front of the public like fine art, with dark backgrounds and generous space, befitting a stone that the Chinese consider more valuable than silver or gold – the most precious substance on Earth, literally, the Middle Kingdom’s bridge to heaven.

High Nubility

Ever since I discovered Chinese mutton-fat jade, I had a desire to visit the source. Hetian is located in western China just north of the Kunlun mountains that separate China from Pakistan and India. According to Chinese lore, jade is masculine. Following this logic, to attract it requires something feminine.

For example, it was told that jade could be caught if naked virgins were sent into the rivers on moonlit autumn nights.

Thus, it was that, in the summer of 2017, I set out for Hetian with the highest of anticipation, visions of virgins dancing in my head. Alas, upon arrival, there were no naked nubiles at the river, just one old man with a shovel. When we asked if he had found any jade, he reached down into his bag and produced a boulder. We quickly bought it.

Booked

I have a terminal love of books and whenever I travel, I try to make time for what some refer to as a “gentile madness.” The first time I visited Shanghai in 2011, I found Fuzhou Rd, a lovely street with several great bookstores. Several years later, I was back in Shanghai at the invitation of Tongji University’s “Adam” Zhou Zhengyu. I mentioned to Adam that I wanted to go back to Fuzhou Rd. He said I should first visit the Tongji Bookstore. That turned out to be his office and, as I departed, I was overloaded with kilos of books on Chinese jade that he had gifted me. Back in Bangkok, I opened them up and was completely floored. Expecting to see scholarly reproductions of older jades, I was amazed to discover page after page of stunning contemporary designs.

YYYYEEESSSS!!!! When I later asked Adam if he could arrange visits to meet some of these carvers he slyly smiled and said: “Of course. They are my friends.”

This is how I came to meet China’s new jade masters, people like Ma Hong Wei, who makes jade reproductions of ancient Chinese bronzes, Yu Ting, who specializes in eggshell thin carvings and Yang Xi, whose negative space works are as fresh as any contemporary art in the world. But the carver I most wanted to meet was Wu Desheng. His flowing nudes were the ones that I was most taken by.

Wu Desheng is perhaps China’s most famous contemporary jade master and has a studio on the outskirts of Shanghai. Built on a large tract of land, it is a re-creation of a traditional Chinese home, with a square central courtyard. Master Wu was a gracious host and gave us a full tour of his compound, with various workshops filled with people carving jade. As we were leaving, Wu casually mentioned that, if I had a piece of jade, he would carve it for us.

YYYYEEESSSS!!!! After kissing his feet, I quickly whipped out the jade boulder we had purchased in Hetian the previous year before he could change his mind. Game on.

Every year, Suzhou hosts an international carving competition, where China’s best face off against the world. I was honored to attend and speak at the April 2019 event. Donn Salt had come up from New Zealand and as we wandered the exhibit halls, he remarked that he felt like a young schoolboy. Such is the quality of jade carving in China today that one look will have you forgetting every tired Guanyin statue you’ve ever seen.

In September 2019, Adam invited me to visit one of China’s most famous jade deposits in Liaoning Province in the northeast. There we visited the studio of Master Tangshuai, who creates organic flowing carvings in serpentine. Returning to Shanghai, we learned that Master Wu had finished the carving of my boulder, and so once again visited his compound. He brought out a small custom-made box and presented it to me.

Touched by Jade

Jade is the most sumptuous jewel against a woman’s flesh.

Pearl Buck

My journey with jade had taken me around the world, to five continents and dozens of countries over four decades. I pondered all I had seen chasing this magical stone. Yes, there were some disappointments. I hadn’t found the moonlit virgins in the river. But I had visited so many places, had so many great adventures, made so many new friends.

As I opened the box that Master Wu had presented me, I touched something smooth, creamy, almost like a woman’s skin. Bringing Wu’s creation into the light, for the first time, I truly understood what jade means to the Chinese. In that box lay my mystical virgin from the river. I was holding heaven in the palm of my hand.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the following people for spending the time to introduce him to jade: Adam Zhou Zhengyu and Jason C.H. Kao of Shanghai’s Tongji University, Master Wu Desheng, Lin Tze-Chuan. Thanks to the world’s Master Carvers for letting us into their hearts and studios, including Cuilei, Donn Salt, Fan Junmin, Georg Schmerholz, Liu Zhongrong, Ma Hong Wei, Pang Ran, Qiu Qijin, Ru Yuefeng, Tang Shuai, Wang Dehai, Wu Desheng, Yang Guang, Yang Xi, Yu Ting and Zhai Yiwei. Thanks also to Leong, Vivian Deng, Lancie Deng, Zhao Wenbi & Jin Jiyang, Cooper Ke, Sun Yunwu, Ms. Lina, Ms. Li and Mr. Tong (Zhong Wei Co.) for sponsoring some of our travels.

References and Further Reading

• Chou, M. (1987) Dictionary of Jade Nomenclature. Hong Kong, privately published, 150 pp.
• Goette, J. (n.d., ca. 1936–37) Jade Lore. New York, Reynal and Hitchcock, 321 pp.; [1976 edition by Ars Ceramica with an introduction by William C. Hu].
• Gump, R. (1962) Jade: Stone of Heaven. Garden City, NY, Doubleday & Co., 260 pp.
• Jacquemart, A. (1863–64) Collection d’objets d’art de M. le Duc de Morny. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Vol. 15, 1 November, pp. 393– 419; Vol. 16, 1 January, pp. 28–50.
• Laufer, B. (1912) Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 154, Anthropological Series, Vol. X, 2nd ed. reprinted by Westwood Press, 1946; Dover, 1974, 370 pp.
• Salt, D. (1992) Stone, Bone and Jade: 24 New Zealand Artists. Auckland, David Bateman, 95 pp.
• Sung, Ying-hsing (1966) T’ien-Kung K’Ai-Wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century. trans. by Sun, E.Z. and Sun, S.-C., University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 372 pp.

• Hetian Jade
• Contemporary Jade Carving in China
• Jadeite Jade
• The Many Faces of Jade in Western Jewelry
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden

The post Jade ‒ A Lifetime in Search of Heaven appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

In the Western world, during Prehistoric times, jade was commonly used for tools and weapons and many of these objects have been preserved in Western collections. When it comes to adornment and jewels, however, the use of jade did not appear before the beginning of the 16th century and was related to the luxury goods trade routes controlled by the Portuguese in Asia and the Spaniards in Central America.

In China, the Portuguese settled first in Canton in 1517 and then in Macao in 1554. Portuguese merchants were the first to bring the pedra de ilharga to Europe. Sometime later, the Spaniards introduced Central American jade objects—piedra de hijada,—produced by civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs. Because of their apparent similarity, the two stones were mingled and called lapis nephreticus (kidney stone) in Europe, because it was believed helpful in soothing kidney pains. The French mineralogist Alexis Damour was the first
to distinguish the mineralogy of Chinese jade (nephrite) and American jade (jadeite) in 1863. The word “jade” is not scientific, it is related to the cultural ad trade.

In jewelry, jade was seldom used when compared to other gems in the Western world. Usually its use was motivated by the fascination for China, except in Russia with Fabergé.

Smuggled Chinese Jade

Historically, jade exports were forbidden by the Chinese although a few pieces were smuggled to Europe before China opened its borders following the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. By then, Chinoiserie was fashionable in European arts. It is a term from French that indicates the European fanciful interpretation and imitation of Chinese and East Asian arts in the 17th and 18th centuries. Chinese porcelain, lacquerware, cloisonné enamels and paintings were imported in large quantities from China, along with jade. Some jade pieces found their way to European courts such as this Mazarin jade cup in the 17th century.

In jewelry, the 16th century intaglio attributed to the Italian glyptician Valerio Belli is among the rare preserved examples. It depicts a hunt scene with an architectural background, a fight between five horsemen holding spears with lions and dogs attacking bulls before them. The scene is carved on a piece of green nephrite, but so far, we don’t have any historic or scientific information related to its geographical origin.

Jade Stolen from the Summer Palace

The Empress Eugénie is at the origin of the creation of a Chinese Museum in the Château de Fontainebleau in 1863. She was a passionate collector of Far Eastern works of art. The main section of the Chinese collection was provided by thefts that happened during the looting of the Summer Palace (Yuanming yuan) in Beijing in October 1860, ordered by Lord Elgin in the Second Opium War.

After the victory of the French and the English, a large part of the most precious objects arrived in France in 1861.The pieces were sent to Fontainebleau to adorn the Chinese Museum of the Empress. Jades were a novelty under the Second Empire. Sixty-eight jades, among the most precious Chinese works of art, were showcased. Most belong to the Qing period (1644-1912), more precisely to the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796). Some pieces preserve their original Chinese labels indicating where they came from in the Summer Palace.

Despite the quality and the diversity of those jade pieces, only one would be famous during the Second Empire: The Empress Rosary. The General Cousin-Montauban, Commanderin- Chief of the French Expeditionary Force, assembled elements of three different mandarin necklaces from the Qing Dynasty in order to create a rosary for the prayerful Christian Empress. Mostly made of jadeite beads, it also contains coral, lapis-lazuli, tourmaline, spinel, quartz and pearls. This rosary became a symbol of the political dissension for the opposition newspapers opposed to the looting of the Summer Palace.

Henri Vever, in his history of French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century, says that the first time jade was introduced into French jewelry was in the 1860s. In his book, he reproduces several pieces such as these two jadeite pendants in bird patterns. He states that the jadeite came from the looting of the Summer Palace.

Many of these jewels were made by Eugène Fontenay. A pair of earrings is on display in the Galerie des Bijoux at the MAD in Paris. Following the taste for eclecticism typical in the Second Empire, Fontenay mixed classical archaeological inspirations— the shape of the amphora ornamented with snake patterns and filigree—with jadeite, in reference to China.

The Jade of the Czars

Fabergé, the most famous Russian jeweler, used nephrite taken from boulders found along the Onot River in Siberia. He preferably used gems of Russian origin, mostly ornamental, and nephrite was among his favorites. It is probably the most frequent in his work. Many examples of delicately carved nephrite objects and jewels are preserved in museums and private collections. Fabergé used the gem to manufacture not only highly naturalistic charming animals or flower leaves, but also eggs, cups, boxes and frames, creating his own style without any reference to China.

Art Deco: The Golden Era for Jade in Western Jewelry

Except in Russia, jade was seldom used in European jewelry before the Art Deco era. In Paris, Chinese art became more accessible with the creation of the Musée Guimet in 1889 and the Musée Cernuschi in 1898. With his favorite designer Charles Jacqueau, Louis Cartier spent a lot of time in museums searching for inspiration. Oriental and Far Eastern arts were the essence of modernity to him. Cartier was a pioneer in Art Deco design and introduced jadeite as early as 1913 in a highly modern pendant-brooch.

The use of jade spread in the 1920s. It was the golden era for jade in Western jewelry. Artists and jewelers were inspired by exoticism and the Far East was the main inspirational source. After World War I, people needed to dream in the Roaring Twenties and were fascinated by Chinese art. In her recent publication about the French jeweler Lacloche, Laurence Mouillefarine explored the cultural background of the 1920s. According to French fashion magazines of the era, there was an obsession for China in all domains of taste. Parisian ladies began playing mahjong and adopting Pekinese dogs. Home decoration and fashion drew inspiration from Chinese art. Chinese-themed costume balls were very popular. People became crazy about jade. The firm Roger & Gallet launched a fragrance called Jade in a bottle shaped like a Chinese tobacco pouch. Dealers specializing in Asian art set up businesses in Paris. Trade-publication ads by Chinese antique dealer C. T. Loo offered “jade and hard stones –directly imported for jewelry.” Femina magazine considered jade a valuable gem.

In its Christmas 1922 issue, it was mentioned among the most precious gems besides diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire. The publication Le Grand Négoce remarked: “Jade has been used in France for the last few years, and its increasingly frequent adaptation for jewelry is owed entirely to the rarity of its hues, the most savored being the emerald shade.” This gem, which is difficult to carve and polish because of its hardness, gave rise to new displays of prowess by the lapidaries working for high jewelry.

The use of jade is part of modern jewelry, honored in the boldest jewelry creations showcased at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925 (at the origin of the expression “Art Deco”). An excellent example is a stunning pendant by the Verger Frères for Lacloche, recently sold at auction in Paris.

Jade was particularly appreciated at Cartier. In one pair of earrings, the jeweler combines jadeite rings with the Chinese character for longevity in red enamel. According to Olivier Bachet, recognized Cartier expert, Cartier’s concerns were aesthetic and stylistic rather than symbolic. The main goal was to create in the Chinese style regardless of the signification of the Chinese motif. For Cartier, it meant using combinations of green and red colors.

Cartier used also antique Chinese jade pieces to create modern jewels or precious objects. Many examples are preserved in the Cartier Collection, including jade hairpins turned into letter openers, jade snuffboxes that became perfume bottles, jade screens used in clocks, etc. These antique jades were part of the “stock des apprêts,” a collection of antique gems or objects of various origins chosen by Louis Cartier for their beauty and preserved in order to create new pieces.

American Taste for Jade in the 1970s

After the 1930s, jade was hardly used in Western jewelry. Interest in China returned in the 1970s, and jade was again in. Highly inspired by Art Deco jewelry, especially Cartier, the American jeweler David Webb produced many oversized pieces, including carved jade. Webb was known to buy old jade from antique shops in New York. Like Cartier, what he bought, he used. He had to accommodate the unique shapes by designing specific frames to contain the actual gems he worked with.

Jade was particularly appreciated in the U.S., even in collections. Great designers such as Elsa Peretti and Angela Cummings (who worked for Tiffany & Co. in the company in the 1970s and 1980s) introduced carved and polished nephrite in their boldest creations.

From Classicism to Modernity – 21st C Jewelers

Since the beginning of the 21st century, jade came back as a discreet, but prestigious gem. It is the sign of a certain refinement and a taste for distinction. Like Cartier during the Art Deco period, the French jewelry artist Thierry Vendome was inspired by antique jade pieces. During a trip in Beijing in 2010, he bought a 19th century carved nephrite bi disc. In order to create the necklace’s joints, he sewed together it in several parts. Each was then set in silver and articulated by gold links. To create asymmetry, he applied three gold rods set with calibrated cut peridot and tourmaline in a green gradient.

Whether jadeite or nephrite, jewelers learned to appreciate the large range of colors, even when they are not uniform as seen in this JAR pendant on the left. Following the valuation criteria for jadeite, the green and purple cabochons are far from perfect, showing oxidization zones. But the jeweler was inspired by this mixing of colors and created a very refined combination of gemstones.

The German jeweler Hemmerle has been scouting jade’s potential for the last few years. Like JAR, he doesn’t look for perfection in the material. His criteria are different, basing his work on contrasts and chords between colors, textures and lusters. Hemmerle mingles green jadeite with demantoid garnet, rust jadeite with copper or mottled gray to black jadeite with upside down colorless diamonds set in silver in a gray gradient.

Today, jadeite and nephrite are not only related to the fantasy of China. These remarkable materials in terms of toughness and texture are appreciated for themselves. Western lapidaries learned to tame them in terms of carving, polishing and in their relation to light. Always in search of new materials, Hermès recently introduced black nephrite in high jewelry pieces. In its Galop ring, the horse’s head was carved and polished with a matt finish. Pierre Hardy, the designer, wanted it crafted as though it were leather. The contrast between the mirrorpolished gold and the velvety nephrite is brand new.

References

• Olivier Bachet & Alain Cartier, 2018, Cartier Exceptional Objects, Palais Royal.
• Pierre Bariand & Jean-Paul Poirot, 1985, Larousse des Pierres Précieuses, Larousse.
• Jade: From Emperors to Art Deco, 2016, MNAAG-Somogy.
• Laurence Mouillefarine & Véronique Ristelhueber, 2019, Lacloche Jewelers, Norma.
• Estelle Niklès Van Osselt, 2015, Asia imagined In the Baur and Cartier Collection, Yale University.
• Ruth Peltason, 2013, David Webb. The Quintessential American Jeweler, Assouline.
• Henri Vever, 2005, French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century, ed. Katherine Purcell, Thames & Hudson.
• Wartski, 2006, Fabergé and the Russian Jewellers.

• Jadeite Jade
• Hetian Jade
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden
• The November Auctions
• In Search of Mayan Jade

The post The Many Faces of Jade in Western Jewelry appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

Jadeite jade—inextricably linked to Chinese culture—is a one of most valuable gems in the fascinating world of jewelry. For over 100 years, the strongest jadeite jade market has been China. It is not uncommon for a small piece to be auctioned for tens of millions of dollars. Regular prices are not, however, quoted for jadeite jade in trading, and even some international colored stone businesspeople are curious as how to value it from a Chinese point of view.

In the same manner that gold and diamonds are highly treasured in the West, jade has special significance to the Chinese. The term for jade, Yu, is also used in family names as well as in terms that describe people or things that are graceful and beautiful. The significance of jade in Chinese culture is evident, not only historically, but also currently.

Jadeite jade (fei cui, in Chinese) is a one of two types of pure jade; the other is nephrite jade. Jadeite jade is considered to be rarer, more precious and more valuable. As a result, it is praised as the king of jade. There is a Chinese saying: Gold has value, jade is invaluable. It’s difficult to quote a price for jadeite jade to help businesses and customers in evaluating prices, since it is different from diamonds and most other precious gemstones. Even some international gem trading firms are shocked by the high auction prices that jadeite jade jewelry commands, and they want to learn how the Chinese evaluate jadeite jade.

Usually, the Chinese consider several factors when evaluating jadeite jade: texture, transparency, color, cutting, clarity, size and origin. This refers to natural jadeite jade without any treatment, also called Type A in the trade. Jadeite jade that has been treated in some manner, such as bleaching, filling and dying, is unacceptable and of no value for most Chinese customers; the treatment is not durable and the original rough material is of low quality and price.

Texture

An old Chinese saying for evaluating jade is: Beginners emphasize color, while experts emphasize texture. Texture has long been considered a crucial factor in the appreciation of jade, including jadeite jade, since ancient China. Texture reflects the aesthetic value of internal beauty. We usually
use the term Zhong or Di to mean texture. A fine structure stands for a good variety (good Zhong), while a coarse structure stands for bad variety (bad Zhong).

There are many types of commercial jadeite jade, including Glassy, Top-Icy, Icy, Icy-to-Sticky-Rice, Pea and Ceramic, in descending order of quality. There is no obvious boundary between two adjacent varieties. Jadeite like glass is called Glassy; jadeite like ceramic is referred to as Ceramic; Top-Icy is the top quality in the Icy variety and close to Glassy; Icy-to-Sticky-Rice is between Icy and Sticky-Rice.

Transparency

Transparency is another important factor in the appreciation of jadeite jade. Chinese use the term Water (Shuitou in Chinese) to describe the transparency of jadeite jade because it looks like water inside. Sufficient Water means high transparency, while dry means low transparency.

Transparency is inextricably bound up with texture. The Glassy variety is very transparent; Top-Icy is transparent; Icy is sub-transparent to translucent; Sticky Rice to Icy is semi-translucent; the Pea variety is usually opaque.

Color

Ranging in color, jadeite occurs naturally in apple-green, emerald-green, bluish green, leek green, lavender, purplish blue, greenish white, white, black, red, yellow, blue and colorless. Jadeite can also be several colors in a single piece. The color is often also banded and shows green spots.

The grade of each jadeite jade’s color is determined by the purity, intensity, brightness and evenness. The more pure, intensive, bright and even is the color, the higher is the value. Green jadeite jade enjoys the greatest popularity and highest price. Slightly yellowish and bluish tones affect the value. The most highly valued jadeite jade has a vivid emerald green and a glassy texture, which is as revered and as rare as an emperor, so it is called Imperial Green Jadeite Jade in the trade. Similar to the high standard of the Pigeon’s Blood color, Imperial Green usually refers to not only the purity, intensity and brightness of color, but also to the evenness of color and a glassy texture. A small piece of imperial green jadeite jade in jewelry can easily fetch millions of dollars at auction.

The second valuable color of jadeite jade is lavender; it is a mark of honor, nobility and luck, known as the color of spring (Chun in Chinese) in China. Lavender jadeite jade with a fine texture is relatively rare. The next valued colors are red and yellow. Black jadeite jade, which shows green by transmitted light, is also popular in China and commands high prices.

The color of jadeite jade is judged by the naked eye under the mid-day sun—not under artificial light—for appraisal. Bluish-green colors will change to a more pure and more intensive tone under yellow light, and lavender will become more vivid by some white light.

Cutting

Rough jadeite is fashioned into beads, cabochons, shapes for fancy pendants and entire bangle-bracelets. It is also used to make beautiful objets d’art. Bangles, oval cabochons for rings and strands of beads are priority choices for jade cutters and are usually more valuable than others, even more than carved pendants with more artistic craftsmanship. This is understandable since those three cutting shapes also need the best rough material, while a carved pendant, even intricately and artistically carved is often made with what remains from the inside of a bangle.

These three shapes in high quality bracelets often demand millions of dollars at auction. The following factors should be considered when evaluating a cabochon: the shape, symmetry, width and especially the proportions of height and width.

Clarity

Flaws are usually unavoidable in jadeite jade as it is a polycrystalline aggregate and not monocrystalline
mineral. Flaws in the best Glassy variety may be inconspicuous to the naked eye, however, in Icy varieties, they are obvious. There may be black or white spots, silky and cotton wadding flaws, inner or inner surface cracks, etc.

Even tiny cracks determine the value compared to other flaws. The value of a jadeite jade will decrease dramatically, normally about ten times, if there are obvious cracks, especially for a bangle, cabochons and beads.

If a crack extends to the surface from the interior, It would be valueless for jewelry.

Size

Different from most colored stones, carat weight is seldom used to value jadeite; it is less important than the dimensions of the fashioned piece.

In comparing high quality jadeite jade of the same quality, color and transparency, the bigger the size, the higher the price. For example, a bigger jadeite jade cabochon is much more expensive than a smaller cabochon of the same grade.

However, we can’t make an easy judgment that a larger sized carved pendent is more expensive than a cabochon of the same quality.

Origin

It is difficult for gem labs to make an origin determination of jadeite jade because it is composed of several minerals and is extremely variable. The main source of jadeite is Myanmar (Burma), which is also the main source of the highest quality jadeite jade.

High-quality jadeite has also been found in Guatemala and has appeared in major Chinese jadeite markets in recent years. Jadeite dealers are, however, cautious about trading jadeite jade from Guatemala and seldom mention it to their customers. These dealers can discern the differences between Guatemalan and Myanmar jadeite jade based on experience. Differentiating the two is still, though, a challenge for international gem labs.

Gem quality jadeite is found in Japan, but the quantity is much less than the large Japanese demand. Jadeite is also reported from America, Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada, Italy, Turkestan and more, but for now at least, little high-quality jadeite jade from these localities appears in major markets.

About the Author

Geng LI, Ph.D., FGA, is with the School of Gemmology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China. He also is a member of ICA. He may be contacted at ligeng@cugb.edu.cn.

Images are courtesy of the author.

• Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green
• Relishing Jadeite from Rough to Remarkable
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden
• Hetian Jade
• In Search of Mayan Jade

The post Jadeite Jade appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

In China, jade is and always has been a cherished possession. With its soft luminescence and subtle translucency, this beautiful gemstone is considered to bring good fortune. Confucius described the properties of jade as embodying human virtues. Appreciation for this unique gem also extends to the West, and one of its greatest proponents is veteran jade expert, jewelry designer and collector David Lin. To learn more about how he transforms rough jade from Burma into exquisite jewelry, which is part of his Jades by David Lin story, I recently caught up with him in his office in Honolulu.

David Lin begins our conversation with the comment that his customers, mostly in the USA, have a great appreciation for jade, and some are even collectors. Yet, he sighs, many in the West don’t understand this remarkable gemstone or its fascinating history. He is on a mission to change all of that with the lectures he is asked to give to groups around the country as well as the beautiful jade jewelry intricate objets d’art that he designs and sells to a growing number of aficionados.

Born in Shanghai, David Lin learned the jade business from his father, T. S. Lin, a jade merchant from Southern China. “He was my teacher and mentor,” reminisces David, “and he taught me all about jadeite, from how to select the rough material, to cutting it, to designing the finished product.” What started as a hobby for the young man soon made him join his father in this second-generation family business. In 1969, the young man moved to the United States, while regularly traveling to auctions in Burma and the company’s factories and offices in China and Hong Kong.

“The art of using jade began in China more than 5000 years ago,” explains Lin. “Until at least the 13th century, the type of jade used was generally nephrite jade, which is an extremely tough stone that varies in color. Prior to discovering jadeite, the Chinese carved nephrite into ornamental pieces and tools for everyday use.”

Jadeite—considered by many to be the finest type of jade—has been “a part of Chinese culture since the late 18th century when the mines in the Hpakan area, the central jade tract in north-central Myanmar (Burma) were opened,” he adds. “For decades, these mines were inaccessible to foreigners and could only be visited by invitation.” But David was invited very early on in the 1970s by the Burmese government to attend the jade auctions where he purchased the rough stones.

Searching for great stones is exciting and Lin admits that his heart starts beating faster when he finds one. In addition to regular visits to the Myanmar jade auctions, his quest has taken him through the jungles and small villages of China, Thailand and beyond. “Jadeite has been found in many countries throughout the world, including the United States, Russia, Japan and Guatemala, but Myanmar is the principal source for premium grade jadeite,” Lin states.

When examining a piece of rough, how does he determine the quality? “At jade auctions, a buyer sometimes has only a small window, or shallow cut in the surface of the stone, through which to view the piece and determine its color, quality and texture. A large block of jade might also be cut in half, but even that does not reveal everything.”

Lin believes that it is only with a trained eye, gained through years of experience, that the right stone can be found. And, even for the most experienced, there is still a gamble. If he finds a stone that has unsurpassed color in the window, but has a crack line, he must determine how that crack line will affect the usability of the stone.

“My father used to say that the color does not travel through the crack line,” Lin recalls. “But I have learned from experience that there may be times when it does. There is a great deal to consider when buying a stone.”

David goes on to explain that the skin of the rough is another way to see the quality of the jade. “A good stone will have a certain texture and luster. If the color is beautiful, but the skin is not of high quality, then after you cut and polish it, the gem still won’t be as good as one that came from a mine with high quality rough and skin. Another factor is the stone’s hardness. If the intersection is too loose, it will shatter when you cut it.”

Once David has determined that he has found the right quality, the rough jade is sent to his factories in China to be cut by his highly skilled artisans and then transformed into beautiful jewelry.

“There are four primary factors which describe the importance of a jadeite piece—color, clarity, translucency and texture. As we search for the ideal piece, these qualities are of great importance. Other important qualities are thickness, size, shape and cut, luster and iridescence.” He points out that many jadeite stones have been treated to improve appearance and explains that a system has been developed to classify jade as: Type A (no treatment, only cutting, polishing and final waxing); Type B (soaked in chemical bleaches and/ or acids to remove impurities, followed by wax and resins impregnated into the bleached jadeite); and Type C (jadeite that has been dyed or artificially stained). “Detection of the treatment processes Once David has chosen the rough, skilled artisans take his designs to create jewels following the color patterns. This pair of tri-color jadeite earrings-to-be came from this piece of rough. often requires laboratory testing for identification,” Lin warns, emphasizing that he only uses Type A.

Does David have a color preference? “Imperial green jadeite has always been the most prized and sought-after stone by most Chinese. It reached the height of its splendor in 1784 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, who was especially fond of imperial green jade from Burma. Only years later did people begin to appreciate the other colors. Changes in the chemical composition of the stone create a range of natural colors including green, lavender, red, yellow, gray, black, white and blue, which is in the lavender category and is the rarest color. Some of the most beautiful pieces consist of a combination of two or more colors in one piece.”

David Lin’s father is credited for introducing lavender jade into the United States at a time when green was considered to be the one true color. “High quality lavender jadeite is a rarity,” David explains. “The most common color is light and not translucent. Yet, even if light in color, a quality stone is translucent. A quality jade can also be deeper in color, while not as translucent. To have both─translucency and a darker color─is a stroke of luck.”

A good example of quality lavender jadeite can be seen in his fish earrings, which are both translucent and deep in color. “You can see how light plays within the lighter and deeper colors in the fish, really bringing it to life. The harmonious marriage of the jadeite’s color and its carving enhances the stone’s natural beauty in an effortless flow of color and translucency.”

Like his father who introduced lavender jade to America, David continued to carry this trendsetting torch and was among the first to introduce blue and gray jade. “Translucent gray and blue jades are among my favorite colors to work with.” He also works with black, lavender, white, red, multi-color and, of course, green jadeite.

What about design inspiration? “It all begins with the rough and visualizing the movement of color, in order to decide how to cut it,” muses Lin. He participates in all facets of the process, from the cut to the finished product. “The design makes itself visible as soon as the stone is cut,” he says. “I look for the elements of purity, integrity and simplicity. A simple design is often paramount because it shows the beauty of the stone and setting. It can hide nothing. The simpler it is, the more important is the quality of the gem and the workmanship.”

David is also mindful of his Chinese heritage and creates pieces that balance traditional Chinese motifs with modern designs. And, sometimes he incorporates antique pieces that he finds on his world travels. “My ultimate criterion is that the design, just like the stones, must have enduring beauty and elegance.”

In his quest for producing fine quality jadeite jewelry, David Lin is now joined by his daughter Katherine, as the third generation of the Lin family continues to relish jade, from rough to remarkable. Jewelry and carvings (and photos) by David Lin (jadesbydavidlin.com).

• Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green
• Jadeite Jade
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden
• Hetian Jade
• In Search of Mayan Jade

The post Relishing Jadeite from Rough to Remarkable appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

In all of recorded history, there is no greater example of a more intimate relationship between a stone and a people than that of jade and China. Within the Middle Kingdom, jade has been loved, appreciated, collected and handed down for nearly 8000 years. Its influence extends from the Chinese language and arts, through poetry and novels, through modern literature, opera and film.
In the development of human society, no other culture approached China in equating jade with human character, personality and human nature. To the Chinese, jade transcended the material world of things, entering a spiritual realm, thus influencing and becoming the carrier of Oriental philosophy.

The Four Great Jades

It is said in China that the country has had “four great jades” since ancient times. This refers to the four kinds of jade that were most commonly used and had the highest status in Chinese history. These were:

● Hetian jade (nephrite) from Hetian (a.k.a. Hotan, Khotan), Xinjiang Province
● Xiuyan jade (serpentine) from Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province
● Dushan jade from Nanyang City, Henan Province. This is a rock composed mainly of anorthite and zoisite, with minor hornblende and variable amounts of accessory minerals such as chrome-bearing micas, chromian epidote, prehnite, titanite, tourmaline and volkonskoite, which impart various shades of green colors
● Turquoise from Yunxian County, Hubei Province

From this, one can see that “jade” in the Chinese mind refers to not only jadeite jade in Myanmar and Hetian (nephrite) jade, but also other rock/mineral aggregates that have similar characteristics (beauty and toughness, coupled with the ability to take a fine polish).

Xu Shen’s Shuowen Jiezi [Interpretation of Words and Texts] in the Eastern Han Dynasty [121 ce]1 interprets “jade” as the “beautiful stone,” thus expanding jade’s definition to encompass seal stones such as “tianhuang stone” and “chickenblood stone” (dickite with cinnabar). Among them, Hetian jade is honored as “Imperial jade” and is considered China’s National Jade, despite the fact that today the top price of jadeite has exceeded that of Hetian jade.

Hetian jade, pure white with muted luster, is also called mutton-fat white jade in China. The Hetian area, known as Khotan in ancient times, originally came from the word Godana or Khotana, which meant “Breast of the Earth.” In Tibetan, it means “Land of Cows,” but because that sounded similar to yü in Chinese, the Chinese started using the jade character, Yu-tien. In the early Qing Dynasty, Khotan (于阗) was changed to Hotan (和阗). In 1959, the Chinese government changed Hotan (和阗) to Hetian (和田), the name by which it is known today.

The earliest written record of Hetian jade is from Sima Qian [135–86 _BCE] in the Western Han Dynasty (206 _BCE–9 _CE). That book contains a passage that reads: “The Han emissary is looking for the source of the river from the mountains at Khotan, where many jades are found.” – Sima Qian [135–86 _BCE], Records of the Grand Historian.

Later, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Gu (32–92 ce) speaks about Shache (莎车), which is located between Hetian and Kashgar: “The capital of the kingdom of Sha–keu is the city of Sha–keu… There is an Iron Mountain (which) produces blue-green jade.” – Ban Gu [32–92 ce], The History of the Han Dynasty.

These two brief mentions provide clear evidence that jades were produced in Shache and Khotan states, in what is now Xinjiang over two thousand years ago.

A Narrow Definition Broadens with Time

At first, people named jade after the mountain where it was produced, e.g. Kunlun jade. In 1759, Emperor Qianlong appointed a minister of Hotan with the chief aim of organizing mining so that nephrite production could flow into the palace. From this point on, this kind of jade began to be called Hetian jade. For an extremely long period, the name “Hetian jade” carried a strict implication of origin. Only the tremolite jade produced in the Hetian region and the Kunlun Mountains nearby could be called Hetian jade.

However, with the passage of time, this narrow definition broadened. Tremolite jade was found in a narrow strip stretching about 1500 kilometers along the northern slope of Kunlun Mountains from Tashkurgan to Ruoqiang. Gradually, tremolite jade in Xinjiang, from the Kunlun Mountain to the Altun Mountain area, all came to be called Hetian jade.

Responding to this, in 2010, the Chinese government revised the national standard of “Gem and Jade Names,” removing geographical origin from the definition. Today, no matter what the source, as long as the main component is tremolite/actinolite, it can legally be called Hetian jade. Thus actinolite/tremolite jade from Xinjiang and Qinghai, or from Russia, Canada and South Korea, qualifies as Hetian jade.

Mineralogical Composition

Hetian jade is a rock where the main mineral components fall into the actinolite-tremolite solid solution series of the amphibole group. White and light colored Hetian jade is mainly tremolite, while dark green Hetian jade is mainly actinolite. Some extremely dark Hetian jade is called black jade, and its mineral composition is mainly ferro-actinolite.

Chemical analysis shows that the composition of Hetian jade is basically the same as actinolite-tremolite, and its common colors are white, cyan, green, yellow, brown and black. At present, we believe Fe2+ causes the cyan color; Cr and Ni play an important role in the emerald green variety; graphite inclusions produce the black coloration; it is generally believed that yellow and brown are related to Fe3+, but there is no conclusion on what causes the difference between yellow and brown tones of Hetian jade.

In addition, there are rare pink, blue and purple nephrites, and the causes of those colors is unknown.

95 Yutian Jade
Among the above varieties, the best white jade is said to be produced in Yutian County, Hetian District. In 1995, a batch of extraordinary quality was produced—pure white with tight structure. These became known as “95 Yutian jade” in the market. As of 2020, the rough price has exceeded US$200,000 per kilogram. Nephrite from the Lake Baikal area of Russian is considered second only to 95 Yutian jade.

Cyan Jade
In the past, the best cyan jade was thought to be produced in Tashkurgan (Xinjiang Province), but in recent years, Gulmud (Qinghai Province) has produced first-class cyan jade. Because of its fine smooth structure, it can be used to make eggshell-thin vessels with a thickness of less than 1 mm.

Dark Jade
The so-called “dark jade” is actually a dark green color found in Dahua area of Guangxi at the end of 2011. This material has excellent texture, which makes it great for carving. Because of the high Fe content (19–25%), it shows dark green and often contains pyrrhotite, similar to the copper censer material made in the Ming Dynasty of China, so it is often made into similar vessels, generous in size and of simple designs.

Black Jade
The best black jade is produced in the Hetian area of Xinjiang (the legendary Karakash, or “Black Jade River”). Black jade may be distributed either in spots or layers. Among them, graphite spots are often regarded as impurities, which reduce the value. In contrast, layered graphite is widely welcomed in the market because its clear color boundaries make for easier integration into finished carvings.

Hetian Jade Types

Hetian jade can be divided into four types, according to its occurrence.

Mountain Jade. Jade quarried directly from the primary deposit is called “Mountain Jade (山料).” Most of these deposits are layered ore veins and the extracted raw stone is generally found in the market as sharp angular shapes.

Mountain Water Jade. Weathered hillside deposits are called “Mountain Water Jade (山流水)” and are often located on hillsides or at the foot of the mountain below the primary deposits. These stones show rounded edges and corners due to short distances of transportation.

Placer (Zi) Jade. Jade from placer deposits is called “zi jade (子料),” which is the most valuable Hetian jade material. In the past, it was mainly excavated in the riverbeds of the White Jade (Baiyu or Yurungkash) and Black Jade (Karakash) Rivers at the foot of Kunlun Mountains in Hetian. Nowadays, it is mainly excavated in the river terraces and ancient riverbeds on both sides of the river.

Desert Jade. Jade from the Kunlun Mountains eventually reaches the edges of the Taklamakan Desert. Because of its long-term wind and sand erosion, the impure parts of the jade are completely removed and become the hardest Hetian jade material. The surfaces of the best desert jade resemble fish scales, but this is very rare. There is confusion over the name of this type. This material is called “gobi jade (戈壁料)” not because it comes from the Gobi Desert (which is to the north and east of the Taklamakan Desert), but because the term “gobi” in Chinese refers to a type of hard-gravel desert, instead of a sand-dune type desert.

Qualities

Color
Chen Renxi (1581–1636 CE) of the Ming Dynasty (1368– 1644 ce) compiled a complete history of China, the Qianqueju Series Books, incorporating the writings of many earlier historians. He wrote: “Jade has five colors, white, yellow and green and all are precious.”

Gao Lian (1573–1620 ce) of the same era further described that “sweet yellow is the most important color for jade, followed by mutton-fat white jade.” He also mentioned that yellow is the emperor’s royal color, and that the output of yellow nephrite is too rare to be used by the royal family. Because virtually no yellow nephrite could be found in the market, the palace utilized mutton-fat white nephrite for most carvings, causing its price to actually exceed that of yellow nephrite.

Generally, there are three criteria for color evaluation: hue, saturation, and tone. Hue refers to the position of a color on a color wheel, e.g. yellow, green, cyan, etc. Hues that are pure colors, without secondary modifiers, are generally preferred. Saturation refers to the intensity of the color. Tone refers to the lightness/ darkness of a color. White, gray and black are achromatic; they lack color, varying only in tone. Note that even the finest mutton-fat white Hetian jade generally has a subtle tint of color. The closer it is to pure white, the more desirable its color.

Structure
There are three aspects to judge Hetian jade’s structure: the first is the thickness of tremolite fibers. Generally, the finer the fibers, the higher the quality. The width of tremolite fibers in Hetian jade is usually less than 0.5 μm under SEM.

The second is the interlaced weaving angle between tremolite fibers. Generally, the larger the angle, the gentler the luster of Hetian jade will be. If fibers are parallel, a jade cat’s eye can be made by cutting a cabochon. Among nephrite jade cat’s eyes, the best quality comes from Sayan, Lake Baikal, Russia, followed by Hualian County in Taiwan.

Finally, the compactness of the inlay between the tremolite fibers is important. The lower the porosity, the better.

Clarity
There are many common included minerals in Hetian jade, which often appear in various colors and forms, so they are easy to observe with the naked eye.

Micro Raman spectroscopy has revealed that the white points and crumb structure are typically calcite, quartz or orthoclase. Pink crumbs have been found to be diopside, while most of the black impurities are graphite.

As previously mentioned, Hetian jade containing large amounts of graphite is also known as black jade. In recent years, pyrite and pyrrhotite have been found in cyan-colored nephrite from Xinjiang, Qinghai, Guangxi and other places, either in cubic crystal form or in filiform dissolution and impregnation structures.

Once considered cast-offs, today carvers make creative use of these kinds of jade, turning yesterday’s waste into wonderful works of art.

Current Markets

Hetian, Xinjiang Province
Today Hetian is the most source trading market, mainly trading in rough jade and simple jade carvings. Recently, in order to upgrade facilities, the government banned many of the older dilapidated markets and moved them to the China Hetian Jade Trading Center, which is not far from the original market.

The whole center covers an area of more than 80,000 square meters and can meet the various trading needs for nephrite. Hotan holds the Hetian jade culture festival in late August every year. At that time, Hetian jade dealers, jade carving masters and literati from all over the country gather in a one-of-a-kind celebration of jade.

Since the late 1980s, merchants have gradually gathered in Urumqi, to form several major wholesale markets for jade. The larger centers include Hualing Jade Trading Market, Xinjiang Hetian Jade Trading Center, Xinjiang Jade City, etc. Currently, there are more than 2,000 listed jade shops in Urumqi. Urumqi is also a major processing centers of Hetian jade, and has created a distinctive local carving style.

Shifosi City, Nanyang District, Henan Province
This small city in Henan Province is currently the largest trading place of Hetian jade in China. At present, Shifosi has nearly 15,000 jade carving processing enterprises of all kinds, more than 20,000 jade stalls, more than 300,000 employees, and an annual output of more than 20 million jade carving products. This accounts for about half of China’s Hetian jade carving industry. Every day, there are a large number of buses going back and forth to Shifosi and jade markets allover the country.

Almost all newly mined Hetian jade mine will pass through Shifosi before moving on to the rest of the country. Shifosi’s market is divided into raw materials, finished products and other secondary materials. Nanyang is also home to Dushan jade.

Jiangsu
Historically, Suzhou and Yangzhou of Jiangsu Province (near Shanghai) are the main processing places of Hotan jade. There used to be a saying that “Good craftsmen live in Beijing, but true artistry resides in Suzhou.”

Yangzhou is good at large-scale mountain carving, while Suzhou focuses on small accessories. Today, Suzhou has also become the creation and trade center of contemporary Chinese Hetian jade carving.

The “Zigang Cup” held in Suzhou every year brings together not just the finest carvers of China, but the entire world, where they compete in a judged competition that is the Oscars of jade carving. The annual review is a bellwether of Chinese contemporary jade carving.

Treatments and Their Identification

River jade pebbles (jades from placer deposits) have the highest economic value. This is because of two factors. First, the weathering process where jade tumbles down a mountain and along the riverbeds is a winnowing process, stripping away impure and fractured areas. This is similar to alluvial diamonds and other gems which generally have much higher cutting yields than gems sourced directly from host deposits.

The second factor is the weathering process imparts stains to a certain percentage (about 30%) of the pebbles. Carvers love this material not just for its purity, but also the natural staining that can be taken advantage of in their artistic creations.

Because of the high prices paid for river jades, such stones have long been a target for imitation, and huge percentages of so-called “river jades” are actually clever deceptions.

The most common form is to take jade from the mountain quarries, saw it into smaller pieces and then process the stones in large industrial tumblers. Once the pieces have reached the desired “pebble” shape, they will then be artificially stained to complete the fraud.

While the unmasking of such forgeries is beyond the scope of this article, there are a few things to look for.

Surface Morphology
For a long time, it has been considered that the absolute basis for the identification of the pebbles is the “sweat pores” of the sub material. The “sweat pores” refers to the phenomenon that the bumping pit on the surface of the natural jade which formed by the friction and collision between the jades and the riverbed in the process of water transportation.

However, with the use of emery spray guns and other methods, the market has realized artificial imitation of sweat pores, which are relatively uniform in depth and density and different from those natural materials.

Weathering Stains on the Skin
Thousands of years of weathering and surface exposure creates a rust-like rind (skin) on the surface of pebbles. The skin colors of natural pebbles are mainly composed of goethite, pyrolusite, limonite and other mostly Fe- and Mnbased minerals and mineral combinations. Therefore, weathering skin colors such as yellow, red, brown and black are seen, and multi-color mixing is common.

In contrast, most dyeing materials are organic dyes, and the common fake skin colors such as green and purple in the market are artificial dye residues. At the same time, single-color dyes are often used in artificial dyeing, and multi-color mixing is rarely seen. Because of the large differences in price between natural river jade and fake river jade, the technology of faking continues to move forward.

Today, artificial dyeing with iron salt, manganese salt and mixed inorganic salts is often seen. Identification of this kind of dye needs rich experience and expert identification skills. Natural weathering stains often form fractal structures, similar to the weedy patterns seen in agate, which cannot be found in dyed jade.

One of the best ways to unmask artificial skin stains is with a microscopic examination. Genuine stains tend to penetrate the surface and are difficult to remove, while artificial stains are more superficial and can be removed with even minor abrasion.

Imitations and Their Identification

Because of the increasing price of Hetian jade, sales of various imitations have also increased. The most common are quartzite, serpentine, and marble, along with glass, plastic and other artificial materials.

● Quartzite is commonly known as “Beijing white jade,” as it was first found in the suburbs of Beijing. Due to its porous
granular structure, it may be dyed a variety of colors. It can be separated by its lower specific gravity (SG) compared to nephrite (2.66 vs 2.95 for nephrite). Dyed specimens will show dye concentrations under magnification. Aventurine quartzite, a naturally green quartzite colored by chrome green fuchsite mica is sometimes called “Indian jade.”

● Serpentine, commonly known as “kangwa stone” (康瓦石). Nowadays, the term kangwa stone generally refers to all kinds of imitations of Hetian jade, which are only distinguished by color, such as white kangwa stone, green kangwa stone, yellow kangwa stone, etc., no matter what their composition is. Serpentine can be separated from nephrite by its lower SG (2.44 to 2.80), refractive index (1.56 to 1.57 vs 1.61 for nephrite) and hardness (2.5 to 6 vs. 6 to 6.5 for nephrite).

● Marble, commonly known as Afghan (or Pakistan) White Jade. Fine carbonate jade has a good oil luster, which is superficially confused with mutton-fat white nephrite, but there are big differences in hardness (3 to 4 vs. 6 to 6.5 for nephrite).

● Glass and other man-made materials, commonly known as “liaoqi (料器).” The name comes from Beijing Liulichang and other antique markets, originally referring to glass, and later extended to all the other synthetic materials. Glass imitations of mutton-fat nephrite are quite common. Magnification may reveal gas bubbles. The RI and SG of glass is also much lower than nephrite.

Due to technological innovations, identification of nephrite is more difficult. Not only are there clever treatments, but an ever-increasing number of both natural and artificial imitations. Today, the infrared spectrum has become one of the most effective nondestructive testing methods in the identification of Hetian jade and its imitations.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express immense gratitude to Richard and Billie Hughes for their help and advice in the preparation of this article. He also sends his thanks to all the craftsmen and craftswomen he has met over the years and for the wonderful jades they have shown him.

References and Further Reading

Chen Renxi (1581–1636 CE) of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE) compiled a complete history of China, the Qianqueju Series Books.
Lin, M. (1995) 西域文明—考古民族話言禾卩宗教亲斤论 [The Serindian Civilization: New Studies on Archaeology, Ethnology, Languages and Religions]. [In Chinese], Beijing, Dongfang Chubanshe.
Liu, X. (2001) Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies. Journal of World History, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 261–292.
Yu, Shen (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 [Interpretation of Words and Texts].

• Jadeite Jade
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden
• In Search of Mayan Jade
• Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green
• Relishing Jadeite from Rough to Remarkable

The post Hetian Jade appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

Jade is treasured in China far more than diamonds, sapphires, rubies or gold. It has a cultural and spiritual significance that goes back thousands of years. You might even say it’s in the DNA of Chinese people. Confucius raved about it, comparing it to all that is good and pure in man. He said it embodied purity, intelligence, loyalty, truth, sincerity and chastity. A well-known saying in China is –黄金有价玉无价– gold has a price, but jade is priceless.

This was true thousands of years ago and remains true today. The modern Chinese jade industry employs hundreds of thousands of workers and has an annual turnover of billions of dollars. There are small cities, towns and villages dedicated to producing pendants, rings, bangles, necklaces, tea sets, goblets, figurines, statuary and almost anything you can think of made from jade. Prices range from a few dollars for a piece carved by machine in a factory to millions of dollars for a work of art created by a master.

Jade has been carved since the Stone Age. Myths and legends are full of stories about it. Three of the four great classics of Chinese literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of Red Mansions are suffused with it. Nearly everyone seems to own a piece of it. Jade is revered in China.

It has long been common to hand down jade from generation to generation. Jades are family heirlooms in a way that items made of gold are not. If you damage something made from gold you can melt it down and refashion it in exactly the same way, but if you break a piece of jade, it is gone forever. Every stone is unique and cannot be replaced. There is the well known story of the wealthy collector who was about to buy a pair of beautiful, matched vases in white jade from a merchant for an enormous sum, but just as he was about to take possession of them, the merchant smashed one of the vases on the floor. He then demanded ten times the original price for the one remaining vase. His reasoning was that since there was now only one, the value had increased dramatically. In China, as in the rest of the world, the rarer something is, the greater the value – 物以稀为贵.

The fact that the industry is thriving today is something of a miracle. The art of jade carving was dealt a series of body blows in the first half of the twentieth century which almost saw it disappear in mainland China. The collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the chaos of the Warlord era, the ensuing civil war and Japanese invasion meant that ,by the time Mao took power in 1949, the craft had virtually died out. No one had any money to buy jade and artisans were reluctant to pursue a craft under a regime that frowned on anything that smacked of the past.

So perhaps it is ironic that it was the communists who began the revival. Beijing was dirt poor and desperate for foreign currency. There was still demand for jade from Chinese people who lived in places like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

There was also some interest from collectors in North America and Western Europe. So, factories – state collectives – were set up in the late 1950s and early 1960s in cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Yangzhou to cater for that demand. Old craftsmen were brought out of retirement to train a new generation of carvers and the modern jade industry was born.

Then again, it might well be the so-called Stone of Heaven was so entrenched in Chinese culture that it was inevitable that there would be a revival, even under the communists. After they took power, one of the things they did to move away from the imperial past was to simplify the Chinese language. They changed the ancient character for “country” to a pictograph which showed a piece of jade enclosed by four protective walls: 国.

For a regime that wanted a fresh start and to stamp out all things traditional, it seems strange that they would choose to include the symbol for jade in the new character for the communist state.

The new jade industry approved by Beijing employed a few thousand workers and earned a few million dollars per year during the 1960s and 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, when China began to open up to the West, a flood of tourists increased revenue dramatically. The factories expanded and more apprentices were taken on.

It was this sudden increase in revenue that spelled the end of the state-run collectives. Craftsmen, earning about ten dollars a month, watched with increasing frustration as tourists paid more than they could earn in a year for simple carvings that had taken them a couple of days to create. They resented working in a collective where managers told them what to carve. They wanted to use their own judgment when it came to the pieces they made and earn far more than the few dollars per month that was doled out to them.

In 1989, they began to leave the factories, set up their own workshops and train their own apprentices. Business boomed. By the mid 1990s, nearly all craftsman had set up on their own and the state factories began to wither and die.

The next great leap forward was the emergence of the domestic market. China’s economic miracle was well underway and people had money. By the turn of the century, it was mainland Chinese citizens who became the main customers for jade. The newly rich, the millionaires and billionaires thought nothing of spending a fortune on it. Their enthusiasm was reflected in the growing middle class and even lowly paid workers who now found they had money to burn. The industry grew so rapidly that by the turn of the century hundreds of thousands of people were making a living from jade. Such was the Chinese passion for the so-called Stone of Heaven that it is estimated that more jade has been carved by the modern jade industry than in the rest of human history.

The quality of the work in the 21st century surpasses that of all jade carving done in the past. Craftsman have access to tools and techniques, which means they can carve exquisite detail previously unheard of. Those at the top of the tree can now shape jade almost at will and create masterpieces, which could not have been imagined even two or three decades ago.

Master carvers have looked abroad for inspiration and imposed new interpretations on traditional designs. One of the most popular carvings in China is that of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, who hears all the woes of the world. One carver, now a famous master, borrowed heavily from European Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary. His blending of East and West launched his career and brought him to the attention of rich collectors. Walk into the workshop of any master carver today and there will be books about European art and culture sitting on the shelves alongside tomes about Chinese jade, calligraphy and painting. Jade associations now flourish throughout China. Exhibitions and competitions, in which carvers are encouraged to show their work, exchange ideas and techniques are held each year. One of the most famous, Zi Gang Bei, is held in Suzhou. In recent years the organizers have invited foreign jade artists to compete. The exchange of ideas between artists from two different cultures is already beginning to show in the work of a new generation of Chinese carvers.

The biggest competitions publish books with photos of the medal-winning entries each year. Look at a such a book from just five or six years ago and compare it with one from today and you will see marked differences in style, technique and the type of jade used. Ten years ago, tradition was dominant. Today, the old masters are nervously looking over their shoulders at a younger generation of carvers dogging their heels. They are being forced to flex their creative muscles and come up with fresh ideas.

The old masters still hold sway. They are the ones who are revered for their dedication to one of China’s most ancient crafts. They may be tinkering with new concepts, but they are the ones who keep alive the old traditional designs. There are more than a hundred craftsmen with the coveted title of Chinese Jade Carving Master and the best of them are multi-millionaires who have benefited from the economic miracle and an almost insatiable demand from rich collectors for pieces carved from imperial green jadeite and mutton-fat white nephrite.

Forget about auctions for ancient jades. Auctions for pieces by modern masters generate at least as much cash. And it is probably fair to say the new jades are a far better investment. It is common knowledge that a lot of the archaic jades put up for auction are copies. This cannot be said of the works of modern masters. It is also generally recognized that the workmanship of the new pieces and the quality of the material they use is of a far higher standard than that worked in the distant past.

The younger artists muscling their way onto the scene have far less respect for tradition. Many of these tyros have been educated at art colleges abroad. Their work is a fusion of the old and the new, the East and the West. Their customers are younger and also don’t seem to worry so much about tradition. They also don’t have as much money to spend as the generation before them. Their parents and grandparents will concentrate on the quality of the jade when they buy from an established master, but the new generation of consumers are more likely to focus on the design.

A good rule of thumb for a piece by an acknowledged master is that about 60% of the value is in the jade itself and about 40% in the fact that a master carver had created it. For the new generation of artists, 20% of the value is in the stone and 80% in the design. When they do use the best gem-quality jade, it is in much smaller pieces that they incorporate into jewelry with gold, platinum and other precious stones.

This is another leap forward in the world of jade. Jadeite from Myanmar has long been made into jewelry, but until the last decade it was far less common with nephrite. Now there are craftsman who specialize in nephrite jewelry and goldsmiths who cater exclusively to them. One of the reasons has to be the scarcity of mutton fat white which is almost impossible to come by. It is estimated that less than twenty kilos are now found each year in the White Jade River that runs through Hetian in Xinjiang province. And while there seems to be large amounts of the imperial and kingfisher green jadeite for sale in the markets of Guangdong and Yunnan there are clear indications that most of it is color enhanced. Even experts won’t buy the rough stone without having it tested in a lab because the techniques used to add color are now so sophisticated.

Gold and gemstones other than jade have always had their place in China. Throughout Chinese history gold, for example, has been a way for people to flaunt their wealth but it has never signified breeding and culture. A well-known saying in China teaches that in troubled times, you hide your gold but in time of prosperity you hide your jade – 乱世藏金 盛是藏玉. Gold is valued, but it just doesn’t have the same significance.

The same can be said for other precious metals and gems but there are signs that they are quietly and quite rapidly gaining in popularity. One of the reasons might be that, although China remain a communist state, it has embraced its own form of capitalism and personal wealth is no longer frowned on. The mighty dollar is king and western attitudes have influenced Chinese thinking. You are just as likely to see someone wearing gold and diamonds today as you are to see them wearing jade. The Stone of Heaven remains king, but precious metals and gems are catching up fast.

The new generation of craftsmen also sell their work in a different way. The older masters still rely on the personal approach, endless cups of tea or, dinner with favored clients, their network of contacts, the cachet that comes with their own exclusive brand and auctions for a select clientele with money to burn. The new generation are not so patient. They sell on the Internet, use live streaming and a variety of online platforms that show short video clips and lifestyle inserts, much like Internet personalities in the West. Sometimes it almost seems that the jade is secondary.

One successful young artist is often shown working out in a gym, riding a Harley Davidson and picturing his latest tattoo. His carvings are tiny, but he makes a decent living. His half naked body, finely sculpted in a gym, seems almost as important a creation as the jade he sells. This new generation might not have the same reputation and fame as the old masters, but the most successful of them make a lot of money – just in a different way.

I know of one enterprising young carver who sold sixty jades in sixty seconds when he started using an online platform. He considers this far more preferable to sitting down for a couple of hours with a client in his gallery, drinking tea and maybe, just maybe, selling one item. The sixty jades were all the same design, modeled on a computer, pre-formed by CNC and finished by hand. He doesn’t go online that often, maybe twice a month and only for a couple of hours at a time, but he says it’s his shop window – not his workshop and gallery. He has little interest in gaining the highly prized title of Chinese Jade Carving Master – 中国玉石雕刻大师. It might give him great face, but the hoops he has to jump through and the politics involved make it more trouble than it’s worth. Gone are the days when it was the only route to riches for a craftsman.

Another interesting point not usually noticed is that not a single carver who has the vaunted official title of Chinese Master Carver speaks English. After all, they have no need, as there is little interest in their work in the West. The new generation on the other hand are sprinkled with artists who have studied abroad. Some of them are fluent and many have at least a smattering of the language. There are no master carvers on Facebook, but a growing number of, younger, bilingual craftsmen have their own pages and are now trying to sell their wares to the West.

The move away from the traditional way used by the older generation to sell their work might well have been speeded up by the lockdowns imposed all over the world by Covid19. More and more people have moved to buying all sorts of goods – including jade – online. Before the virus struck, 80% of my sales were from my gallery and only 20% online. Now 80% of my customers buy online and only 20% come in person to buy. I do not see this trend reversing.

Language is a barrier which makes a true understanding of Chinese jade culture difficult for the foreigner and westerners in particular. A great example of this is the definition of jade. To the Western mind it is an umbrella term for nephrite, which has been carved in China for around eight thousand years, and jadeite, which has been popular in China for about two hundred years. Professor Gina Barnes in a paper titled Understanding Jade in a World Context published in the British Academy Journal defined “true jade” as these two stones. At about the same time Trudy Kwong presented a paper at a seminar of the Geological Society of Hong Kong where she defined “authentic” or “real” jade as nephrite and jadeite.

Yet in China, the word jade is usually translated as 玉 [yù], which has a much wider meaning. It can describe any precious and beautiful carved stone. Many years ago, John Goette, in his book Jade Lore, which is still avidly read by those who come to love jade, translated yù as a stone possessing the cardinal virtues – pure, precious, valuable and beautiful. If you ask the Arts and Crafts Association of China
how many people work with 玉 [yù], they will tell you more than a million. Closer questioning will reveal these include all those who work with agate, lapis lazuli, carnelian, rock crystal, serpentine and even bone or amber.

The research division of China’s Collectors Association might well give you a similar answer. Yet another body, the 宝玉石协会 [Băoyùshí Xiéhuì] which translates as the Gems, Jade and Stone Society, limits gems to precious stones as defined by the West, but includes agates, serpentine and lapis lazuli in the jade category. (Its final category of stone is reserved for Seal Stones – an entirely separate craft).

It is quite common to see carvings of rock crystal, agate, serpentine and other stones entered in some of the annual exhibitions and competitions organized by jade associations. The most famous jade exhibition/competition, 天工将 [Tiāngōng Jiăng] held each year in Beijing does not limit its entries to nephrite and jadeite.

There exist different styles/techniques for different stones. Nephrite, for example, is traditionally divided into the northern or imperial style and the southern, romantic style. There is even a saying about it – 南方才子佳人，北方帝王将相, which roughly translates as “in the south they concentrate on brains, romance and beauty, but in the north, it’s all about emperors, generals and ministers of state.”

It is more common in the northern style to come across carvings of royalty, great military figures, dragons and horses, while the southern style based around Suzhou and Yangzhou is more about broken hearts, beautiful maidens and bucolic scenes.

This has a historical basis. The northern style is attributed to a Taoist monk in the Yuan Dynasty who founded the White Cloud Temple in Beijing. His love of jade came from watching artisans at work carving the stone when he was growing up in Shandong province.

The southern style on the other hand has been heavily influenced by the most famous carver of all, Lu Zi Gang, who grew up in Jiangsu province and tended to concentrate on the romantic and bucolic. He is so highly thought of that there is a small town in the neighboring province of Anhui which concentrates on producing copies of his work.

And every jade carving center has its own specialty. Yangzhou is famous for carving large mountain scenes in nephrite,
Sihui near Guangzhou remains the go-to place for large jadeite carvings, Jieyang in the same province is famous for high quality expensive jadeite, while another city produces enough bangles to supply the entire Chinese market.

But things are changing so fast that the accepted wisdom of the past no longer holds. Sihui still dominates the market in large jadeite carvings, but that market has shrunk so much it has begun to specialize in much smaller pieces, designed using software and created by computer-controlled machinery. You can now download thousands of designs for less than a dollar each that can be fed into your computer-controlled carving machine. Then, with little more than the click of a mouse, you can leave the machinery to get on with the job. This may be the future, even for high-end carvings and jewelry. Nearly all the mílèfó 弥勒佛 (Laughing Buddhas) in imperial green jadeite that are for sale in the markets in Guangdong and Yunnan are carved using computers. The going rate for a carver who specializes in carving Laughing Buddhas is about US$2000 per month. You can buy a computer-controlled machine to do the same job for about the same price. Why pay a craftsman US$24,000 per year when a machine can do the same job for a fraction of the cost and take less time to do it? The machinery doesn’t become ill and you don’t have to pay it during lulls in demand. The gold and gems in which the Laughing Buddhas are usually set are still done by goldsmiths but one wonders for how long? After all, if they can build a car with robots, then why not let robots produce a popular design in jade jewelry which is sold on an industrial scale?

One perhaps regrettable development in the modern jade industry is the lack of female artists. There were considerable numbers of women carving jade when the state-collectives were in operation, but there are few today. There are also few female master carvers, two perhaps. Both elegant and talented ladies who concentrate on design and jewelry. In some ways, mainland China has a long way to go before achieving anything like equal opportunities for the sexes in the workplace.

To sum up, the quality of workmanship and material used in the jade industry in China is of a standard never before seen. Prices have rocketed in less than thirty years and although there have been blips in the market where prices have occasionally dipped for a short while the trend is ever upwards. The price and popularity of high-quality jade and jade jewelry usually mirrors how well the economy is doing.

What are classified as true jades, in both the East and the West, seem to be jadeite and nephrite. The best jadeite still comes from Myanmar although some is now being imported from Guatemala. The best nephrite is still found in the White Jade River in Hetian in Xinjiang province in northwest China, but this is now virtually exhausted. To get around this sticky problem, all nephrite is now classified as Hetian Jade (和 田玉). Take any piece of nephrite to an official government testing center – be it from Canada, Russia, Yemen, South Korea etc. – and it will be classified as Hetian Jade. As a result, most of the white jade carved in China for jewelry, bangles and pendants comes from other parts of Xinjiang, or neighboring Qinghai province, or from Russia and South Korea.

The trend is now towards jewelry and smaller carvings. The official Chinese Jade Carving Masters still dominate the high end of the market and continue to fetch extremely high prices for their work, which are generally considered an investment. They are now being challenged by a younger generation of artists who have less respect for tradition, concentrate more on design than the quality of the material they use and tend to go online to find their customers.

While nephrite and jadeite are generally considered true jades in both East and West, there are significant numbers of carvers and artists in China who use other stones such as agate, lapis lazuli, rock crystal and serpentine. They are doing some astounding work and are often mentioned in the same breath as Chinese Jade Carving Masters.

In the past, it would have been fair to say that each region had its own style, but the lines have now become blurred as more and more artists have studied at art colleges abroad and picked up new ideas. Perhaps the biggest changes are the moves towards CNC carving (for the mass market) and jade jewelry. Design is now beginning to have an equal footing with the quality of the material, something that would have been unheard of even a decade ago.

There are those in the older generation who worry that the current generation (and future generations of Chinese people) will forget the special place that jade has in society. They need not worry. It is too deeply embedded in the Chinese psyche. When Beijing started launching rockets into space and planning lunar landings it asked the people to choose the name of the first probe to the moon. The overwhelming vote was in favor of calling it the Jade Rabbit. In Chinese legend, it is a jade rabbit that stands beside the Moon Goddess and uses a pestle and mortar to pound the elixir of immortal life. The inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom have not forgotten their heritage and will continue to buy jade. The problem for the future is where this material will come from. China already vacuums up all the quality jade found throughout the world. Gem quality is increasingly rare. It’s a finite resource that will eventually run out.

References

• Barnes, G.L. (2018) Understanding Chinese jade in a world context. Journal of the British Academy, Vol. 6, pp. 1–63.
• Goette, J. (n.d., ca. 1936–37) Jade Lore. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1976 edition by Ars Ceramica with an introduction by William C. Hu, 321 pp.; RWHL*.
• Kwong, T. (2015) Geological settings and formation of jade. Public presentation to Geological Society of Hong Kong.

Images and text: © 2020 Andrew Shaw. All rights reserved.

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The post Contemporary Jade Carving in China appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

The Maya held jade in the highest regard. It was rare, valuable and represented eternity. Considering the gem to be the ultimate passport to the afterlife, they buried their kings adorned with jade masks and pectorals. They even placed a small piece of jade in the mouth of the dead, believing it to be the passport to heaven and that the jade’s spirit would be absorbed by the deceased and would ensure continued spiritual survival, thus elevating jade to “life-giving” status.

Among the colors of jade, green was the most precious. It represented the life-giving water of the Sacred Cenotes (natural wells); it symbolized crops and fertility; green was also the color of the extremely rare and valued feathers of the quetzal bird. In addition to burial masks, jade was carved into rings, ear flares, pendants, beads, and ceremonial objects. The gem was valued for its durability and ability to take a high polish.

A few years ago, my husband and I visited five major archaeological sites in Mexico—the pyramids at Teotihuacan, the Olmec heads at La Venta, and the pyramids and museums at Palenque, Uxmal and Chitzén Itzá. Following the Maya journey in Mexico, we returned to the area to visit the Museum of Archeology & Ethnography in Guatemala City, and the museums and pyramids in Tikal (Guatemala) and Copan (Honduras).

We spent time admiring the incredible collections of jade artifacts, carvings and beads housed in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, the Museum of Archeology & Ethnography in Guatemala City, and the Archeological Museum of Miraflores—the ancient Maya site of Kaminaljuyu, also in Guatemala City.

Among the many marvels was the impressive jade mask and pectoral of King K’inich Janaab’ Pakal I, or King Pakal the Great (Maya for War Shield, 683 AD) of Palenque, at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. King Pakal’s original tomb sarcophagus is in its original site inside the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, Mexico. A copy of Pakal’s mask, created in 2001 by the Conservation Workshop of the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, is in the Palenque Archeological Museum. The original jade mask, pectoral and jewelry are on display in Mexico City, along with a replica of the King Pakal’s original tomb.

The Jade Minerals

Jade is a generic term that mainly describes two different silicate minerals—nephrite and jadeite.

Nephrite: A compact variety of the amphibole species of tremolite-actinolite, nephrite (Ca2(Mg, Fe)5Si8O22(OH)2,) is found in many places in the world, including China, British Columbia, Siberia, New Zealand and California. It occurs in colors ranging from pure white to green to black.

Jadeite: A sodium aluminum silicate and member of the pyroxene group, jadeite (NaAlSi2O6) is the jade mostly used by the Maya. The other major source of jadeite is Myanmar (Burma), where the famous translucent green imperial jade comes from. Very limited jadeite source also include California, Japan, Kazakistan, Korea and the Alps.

The Guatemalan jadeite often includes 10% diopside. Albite is part of albitic-jadeite’s composition, and the ferruginus variety dark chloromelanite (NaFeSi2O6+) is the intermediate variety between jadeite and acmite. (William Foshag, Mineralogical studies on Guatemala Jade, 1957, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections)

Omphasite jade (CaMgSi206), a pyroxene (sodium, calcium, magnesium and aluminum silicate) roughly half jadeite and half diopside, is the latest jade variety to be included in the international approved jade nomenclature in Hong Kong (Ogden, Gems & Jewellery Magazine, March 2013).

The English term jade is derived from the Spanish piedra de ijada (signifying flank, side, hence loin stone or colic stone) because it was supposed to cure kidney ailments. Natives in Brazil used jade amulets to cure diseases of the kidney. That belief spread in Europe and, by 1565, all jade had disappeared from Mexico. The term Lapis nephriticus was coined by Latin scholars in 16th-century Europe, a term which later became nephrite.

French professor A. Damour identified jadeite as a separate mineral from nephrite in 1864. His chemical analysis in 1881 proved that the Mexican stone was also jadeite. Thus, ironically and in an indirect manner after all these centuries, the Spaniards’ piedra de ijada came to be known with the modern mineralogical term jadeite.

Jade and Maya Culture

The Maya excelled in architecture, agriculture, and astronomy. They were the first people in the Americas to keep historical records. Besides their written glyphs on stone stelae, they wrote in Maya hieroglyphic script on folding books of Mesoamerican bark cloth, known as codices.

Although the Pre-Classic period dates as far back as 1800 BC, the Classic Period (the pinnacle of the Maya civilization) lasted from 250 to 900 AD. After that date, the downfall of the Classic Maya began, and most cities were abandoned. The cities in the northern Yucatán Peninsula lasted longer as many of the Maya people retreated there, until it all came to a violent end with the invasion of the Spaniards in 1517.

The many reasons for the collapse of the Maya civilization are still debated among archaeologists, who consider population density, increased warfare, revolts, long-lasting droughts and agricultural collapse as the main causes (Michael D. Coe, Breaking the Maya Code, Thames & Hudson, 2012). Yet, the permanent harm to the environment caused by clear-cutting forests due to urban sprawl and the burning of trees for the production of quick lime is gaining scientific support, and seems the most rational reason for the decline. Local limestone was pulverized and thermally decomposed, and when combined with water, it created the valuable lime plaster, which was used as a base coating
before repainting the floors and walls of their pyramids and buildings, a restoration that was repeated as often as every three years.

With the decline in Maya culture, the sources for Mesoamerican jade were lost, and remained lost for more than five centuries. This was primarily due to the general lack of interest in jade by the Spanish conquistadores, who were mainly interested in gold and emeralds.

However, reports in diaries kept by early Spanish explorers document the special status of a gemstone unknown to them, one that would later to be called jade.

In the account by Captain Bernal Diaz del Castillo of his service to Hernan Cortez entitled The True History of the Conquest of Mexico (1568/1632), he attests to the value placed on jade by the Mesoamerican Indians: “Montezuma (the 9th ruler of Tenochtitlan 1502-1520) also sent four jewels called calchihuis, resembling emeralds, most highly valued by the Mexicans (Aztecs)…these rich jewels… were intended for our emperor…each stone is worth two loads of gold.”

The term calchihuis or chalchihuitl is apparently a Spanish aberration of the Nahuatl word xal-xihuitl from Xalli (jewel or sand) + xihuitl (herb or herb-colored). (Foshag 1957). The Maya word for precious stone was tun and yaaxaltun for green stone (piedra verde).

In the early days of the Spanish conquest, the Maya people kept the location of their jade mines a secret, to protect them from the invaders. Over time the location of the ancient mines and quarries became forgotten and lost.

Rediscovering Mayan Jade

The amazing story of the gem’s rediscovery extends over almost the entire 20th century. Although many carved jades have been found in archaeological sites in Central America since the early 1900s, no rough jade specimens were found in situ until much later.

In 1894, Edward Herbert Thompson (1857-1935)—an American-born archaeologist and diplomat— purchased the Hacienda Chitzen, which included the ruins of Chitzen Itza, and explored the ancient city for 30 years. He dredged the Cenote of Sacrifice between 1904 and 1910 and retrieved gold, copper and many jades. He shipped the bulk of the artifacts to the Peabody Museum at Harvard.

Today, the location of many of the ancient mines is known and a magnificent variety of jadeite colors is now mined in Guatemala. Jadeite in every shade of green is collected there, as well as white, creamy yellow and blue as well as a rare lavender.

Jade boulders of different colors can be found side-by-side in the field, even boulders with various colors. It is unknown if the Maya found the lavender-colored jade, or if that color simply did not fit their symbolism.

The rediscovery of Mayan jade involves many American scientists enamored with the gem. Among these early jade explorers was Zelia Nutall (1857-1933), an American archeologist and anthropologist from San Francisco. Known for her Mexican archeology research, she published for the Peabody Museum. Her 1901 article Chalchihuitl in Ancient Mexico describes Aztec tribute lists, which indicate jade native sources in southern Mexico.

The Scottish William Niven (1850-1937), a mineralogist and archeologist who came to the USA in 1879 found jade nodules in 1910 in the Del Oro and De las Balsas rivers in Guerrero, Mexico.

Robert Leslie, an American chemist and rockhound working on an agricultural project in the Motagua River Valley of Guatemala, discovered jadeite in 1952 just east of the town of Manzanal. Fellow American William Foshag, a geologist and curator of the Department of Mineral Studies at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, spent several years in Mexico and Guatemala in the 1940s studying the ancient jades and geology of the area. He wrote about Leslie’s 1952 discovery in his article Jadeite from Manzanal, Guatemala (Journal of American Antiquity, July 1955).

In Foshag’s 1957 Mineralogical studies on Guatemala Jade, published a year after his death (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections), his research using X-ray diffraction patterns and refractive indices categorizes the Guatemalan jade as jadeite, and found it to be similar to Burmese jade. (Never Jaded: A Look at Field Notes, article by Courtney Esposito, SIA/IHD, Smithsonian Institution Archives).

An American couple, Tom and Joyce Barbour, also searched for jade in Guatemala and described their adventure, but unsuccessful search for the elusive gem, in the April 1964 issue of Lapidary Journal.

More recently, credit goes to an American expatriate couple, Jay and Mary Lou Ridinger, who used the earlier research of their predecessors to find Mayan jade. For months, they searched and finally found their first outcrop of green jade on a tributary of the Motagua River in 1974.

They sent samples to GIA and other labs, and all confirmed their finds as jade. In 1998, the couple found lavender jade and, in 2004, found small amounts of translucent “emerald” green jade, which they call Maya Imperial Jade.

The Rio Motagua flows along the earthquake fault line between the North American and the Caribbean plates. Jade is formed deep in Earth’s crust and is pushed up under very high pressure and low temperature conditions (Mary Lou Ridinger, DVD The Mysteries of Jade, Discovery Channel).

The Ridingers have found jadeite in several locations in the Motagua River Valley by surface collecting only. There is no underground mining. They often heat the jade boulder and then throw water onto it to create cracks. Gasoline-powered jackhammers are used to remove jade lenses from the boulders. Then the boulders are driven to the Ridingers’ factory in Antigua (Jadeite of Guatemala: A contemporary View, David Hargett, Gems & Gemology, Summer 1990).

Describing the jadeite that they discovered, Mary Lou explains, “If you have inclusions of copper or chrome, you have green jade. If you have manganese and ferrous iron, you have black jade,” adding that jadeite’s physical appearance is granular, with a greasy luster. It has a hardness of about 7 on the Mohs scale, a refractive index of 1.65-1.67 and specific gravity of 3.20-3.34.

They also discovered a scarce variety of deep black jade with perfect cubic pyrite inclusions and flecks of precious metals—silver, nickel, cadmium, platinum, and gold. It was given the very appropriate trade name Galactic Gold. After I donated a slab to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A), a Raman spectrum test run by the Canadian Institute of Gemmology proved the slab to be omphacite, the latest jade variety to be included in the international approved jade nomenclature. (Ogden, Gems & Jewellery Magazine, March 2013)

The Ridingers also found and identified centuries-old Mayan workshop sites. Excavation at these sites produced tools and small bits of pottery indicating where outdoor carving had once taken place (Mesoamerican Jade, Anna M. Miller, Lapidary Journal, February 2001). Mary Lou told me when we met at her shop in Antigua that it was the ancient lapidary shop sites that led them eventually to the rediscovery of the ancient jade mines.

The hunt for jade is grueling, complicated, and dangerous. Besides the dangers to gringos exploring the countryside during the civil war at that time, the sweltering heat and poisonous scorpions and snakes can be real hazards. Compounding the problems, it is also difficult to identify the jade boulders in the field since their surface is covered by a rind similar to the bark of a tree. What helps distinguish jade from the various rocks in the field is by pounding the rocks with a 10-lb sledgehammer. “Jade is so hard and dense,” says Mary Lou, “that the hammer will bounce off the jade boulder and will make a unique ringing sound.”

The Ridingers also tested jade in the field by submerging specimens in a methylene iodide test fluid, blended to a specific gravity of 3.0. Jadeite will sink, while other green stones including serpentine, nephrite and chrysoprase will float.

Just as the Ridingers tested jade in the field for specific gravity, Fred Ward had several jade carvings tested by Smithsonian archeological scientist Ron Bishop, who submerged the specimens in the same methylene iodide test fluid. Ward also took geologist Brian Curtiss to Guatemala to test the famous funerary mosaic mask from Tikal with a portable PIDAS spectrometer from the Jet Propulsion Lab, in order to determine which parts were jade and which were not. The test confirmed Mary Lou’s earlier visual identification that only the mask’s ear flares are pure jadeite, while the rest of the green pieces are jadeite-diopside mix.

Mayan Lapidary Work

How were the Maya able to carve their jade? Mary Lou Ridinger explains, “They carved jade with a wooden blade made from the local hardwood lignum vitae with an adhesive that could carry crushed garnet or jade as the abrasive.” Garnets are found in alluvial deposits in the same area near the Motagua River. At the Tikal Archeological Museum, I admired the length of carved imperial green jadeite beads— many between two to four inches long. It takes a while to drill such holes even today using diamond tools. The ancient lapidaries used a wooden bow drill with a bamboo shaft and abrasive, and/or a stone tip. I have total respect for my fellow ancient Maya lapidaries, their ability and time invested in their work.

In the Mexico Gallery of the British Museum in London, the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Mixtec cultures are represented. Besides the amazing Aztec turquoise mosaics is a collection of Maya carved jades. Among them is a fabulous imperial green jade plaque, which shows a Maya lord in full ceremonial regalia seated on a throne, with a smaller figure at its feet. The lord wears earplugs, pectoral, armlets, wristlets, belt, and headdress. The plaque dates from the Late Classic period ca. 600-800 AD, and measures 14x14cm. It was found in Teotihuacan, possibly from the Nebaj area in the western Guatemalan highlands.

We also had a wonderful opportunity to see and touch a special collection of carved jades at the Cultural Research Center of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), a part of the Smithsonian Institution. This collection is open to researchers, but a two-month advanced appointment is required, along with a precise list of items to be researched.

Museum specialist Victoria Quiguango gave us a brief tour of the center, which houses thousands of items, including a large number stored in secure vaults. Among the collections are a small number of beautiful Maya jade carvings. The items on my written request list came out of the vault on a rolling cart. Wearing protective gloves, I examined several Mayan carved jades under the specialist’s supervision. Some of the elaborately carved pendants were three to four inches long with drilled holes. The polish of the carved jades was extraordinary, even still today.

Modern Jade Carving

Our jade journey included two visits to the Ridingers’ Jade Maya Gallery in Antigua, Guatemala, which is also a factory for carving jade and an archeology museum. Jay Ridinger set up the lapidary shop with equipment from the USA. Robert Terzuola, another jade-loving American living in Guatemala became a master carver and was the shop’s foreman for several years, training Guatemalan apprentices (Green Gold, Donald M. Best, Lapidary Journal, October 1983). His name is given to an ancient workshop site that he discovered, dating to 750 AD, now known as the Terzuola Site, east of Guatemala City. Jade chips were found at the site, including two cores from holes made by a hollow drill. (Jade Workers in the Motagua Valley, Lawrence H. Feldman & Robert Terzuola, University of Missouri, 1975).

During each visit to the Jade Maya Gallery, we were welcomed by Mary Lou Ridinger and energetic shop manager, Raquel Pérez, who allowed us to visit every room and workshop. The tour began with guide Raphael Martinez at the at the slab room, where the rough material from their seven quarries is cut by large saws. The slabs are sorted, graded and numbered 1 to 14, corresponding to the final finished cabochon grades. In the impressive inventory of sorted jade slabs of all colors and grades are rare Maya Imperial Jade and Mayan Foliage—the popular green and white mottled variety. All their jade material is natural and untreated.

In the workrooms, skilled workmen carve beautiful replicas of ancient artworks, with motifs that reflect their artistic traditions. Many of these Guatemaltecos are of Mayan decent.

In the gift shop, various replicas of King Pakal’s mask and other ancient Mayan mosaic masks and sculptures are displayed, as well as original designs by contemporary jade sculptors. Jade jewelry set with other gemstones and pearls, is also for sale, including some by Andrea Novella (the Ridingers’ granddaughter).

Inspired by these ancient Maya and contemporary jade carvings, I began creating my own Maya Jade Collection. Although the green jades are best known and most desired, my favorite Guatemalan jade color is lavender. It is easy to carve, following standard lapidary steps. Carving the black Galactic Gold jade pieces was as dirty as with any other material that has pyrite inclusions. The black residue color— both from the black jade and the pyrites—stains everything.

Each of my jade artwork “tells a story,” a story that shares the beauty, history and lasting friendships of my Guatemalan jade journey.

Unless otherwise specified, all photos are by the author

• Jadeite Jade
• Hetian Jade
• A Thriving Jadeite Garden
• Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green
• Relishing Jadeite from Rough to Remarkable

The post In Search of Mayan Jade appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

Long before jadeite was named the King of Jades, people were using jadeite and nephrite to make ritual utensils and ornaments. Following the Bronze Age, however, the prehistoric jade culture in Europe soon disappeared. In America, natives used jadeite not only in jewelry, but also in ceremonial objects dating back 4,000 years. For civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs, jadeite was the most valuable gem until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.

In Asia, jadeite has been used to make ceremonial utensils since the Stone Age. This tradition lasted from the rope writing epoch to the Yasui era. Until the modern Nara era, jadeite culture had declined slightly in Japan.

Nephrite has been used in Chinese art for more than 1,000 years. Jadeite, on the other hand, was introduced into China only in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Burma’s history and love affair with jadeite is also relatively recent and can be related to the development of the Chinese love of jadeite. The gem arrived in China around 1784 and was greatly treasured by the Qing Imperial family. Jadeite court necklaces were only worn when the Emperor and his fellow councilors held official functions; officials ranked level five or below were forbidden to possess or wear court necklaces. High ranking officials, however, decorated their headdress with tubular jadeite—Ling Guan—and a peacock feather.

Jadeite has been a symbol of supreme status and extreme wealth. Bangles and rings were given by members of the Qing court as gifts and tributes; only ladies from families with an honorable pedigree were allowed to wear such gifts since jadeite was a symbol of one’s high status.

Jade’s diverse rich colors, the excellent hardness and toughness, plus the fact that it can be carved into large objects of supreme quality made it the most beloved gem for the people of China, from the emperor to the common man.

Starting at the beginning of the 19th century, jadeite became popular, due probably to the Empress Dowager Cixi, who adored the auspicious gem more than anything else. It was the first time in recent history that the demand influenced the price, which reached the sky for fine jadeite.

After the death of the Empress Dowager in 1908, political instability followed, and a great number of Imperial jadeite treasures were removed from the palace and sold to the public. As a result, many of these treasures, including court necklaces, were lost forever. Some may have been taken out of China, while others may have been re-cut or re-set into other pieces of jewelry.

The original definition of the two Chinese characters, fei cui, which stands for jadeite today, attests to the preeminence of this special gemstone. Yi WuZhi (The Book of Foreign Matters) explains, “Cui, a red bird resembling a male swallow, is named Fei, whereas the female green bird is named Cui, and its feathers are used as adornments.” Cui was a very rare and precious bird in ancient times, and it was hunted for its exceptional and bright-colored feathers. Jadeites, which come in a wide range of attractive colors, were coined Fei Cui for their beauty and high value.

The author examining the jadeite and spinel necklace featured opposite.

The gem also has variable transparency and structure, leading various scholars and merchants to have different classifications depending on their perspective. Jadeite is divided mainly into a series of green (the most diverse), purple, red-yellow and white-colorless. The green series includes imperial green, apple green, yellow poplar green, bean green, spinach green and many other varieties.

The purple series includes pink purple, violet, eggplant purple, blue purple and other varieties. Lavender is the second most sought-after color after imperial green. The red-yellow series is divided into red and yellow varieties, while the white-colorless series includes white opaque to colorless translucent varieties. There can also be two or more colors in one piece of jadeite. The interlocking mineral structure of jadeite is tighter than nephrite, which makes it tougher with a smoother texture. This is one of the reasons why jadeite is mostly used for jewelry while nephrite is generally used for carving.

In metaphysics, jade is considered to be a spiritual gemstone. If worn close to the skin, the stone’s energy is transferred to the wearer, resulting in a healthy influence.

As for the jadeite itself, it receives positive aura from the wearer, thus improving its color and translucency. Jadeite is a mineral aggregate composed of a sodium chrome pyroxene and omphacite.

The chemical formula is NaAlSi2O6, and it can contain Cr, Fe, Ca, Mg, Mn, V, Ti and other elements, giving jadeite covers that span almost the entire spectrum. Its hardness is much higher than any other gem, which is why it can be carved without breaking. The common structures of jadeite are interwoven and granular fibers, translucent to opaque, oily to glassy. The refractive index is 1.66 (spot test); relative density is 3.34; and it measures 6.5–7 on the Mohs hardness scale.

Myanmar is still the main producing area of jadeite in the world, supplying more than 95% of gem-grade jadeite. Other nations also produce jade, including Guatemala, Russia, Kazakhstan and Japan, but the quality and quantity are far from those of Myanmar.

To understand what makes jadeite jade so unique and, in particular, to understand the characteristics of the so called Imperial jade, we have to look at a number of factors.

Jadeite and nephrite are generally referred to as “jade.” What makes jadeite more desirable than nephrite is the quality of the material.

In Chinese culture, jadeite is generally referred to as “hard jade” and nephrite as “soft jade.” Green jadeite represents vigor and energy of life, and is the most favored gem by customers and collectors. Called the soul of jadeite, green is undoubtedly the most important color. Normally, we estimate jadeite color in terms of saturation, brightness, uniformity and purity.

Unlike diamonds and other gemstones, the beauty of jadeite comes from the luminosity within, due to its pure internal structure that makes its color bright and vibrant. A high-quality jadeite has an evenly distributed and highly saturated green.

Imperial jadeite has excellent quality among all-natural jadeites; consequently, it is the rarest and the most precious. It is as clean as glass, and has a pure, bright, thick and evenly distributed pure green color.

Characteristics of Jade

There are a number of criteria that are used in determining the value of jade.

The Texture of jadeite can be fine, medium or coarse. The tighter the fibrous and crystalline interlocking structure, the finer the texture. That has to do with the distribution consistency and evenness of the grain within the material, which enables light to penetrate the stone to create translucency. The finer it is means it can be more finely polished, thus making it more valuable.

Translucency is another criterion in determining top quality jadeite. A result of the above-mentioned structures is the degree of transparency—even the highest quality jadeite is never transparent. Jadeite’s translucency can range from opaque to glass-like or glassy. The higher the translucency, the rarer and more desirable is the stone. Top quality jadeite is semi-transparent, and the finer the grain distribution is, the higher is the quality. Granular clouds of milky patches should not be present.

Clarity characteristics should not be confused with color roots that will lower the quality of jade, but that are not inclusions. Jadeite color can often be dotted or striped and change from darker to lighter. Darker colors are called color roots. Although the existence of color roots can be used as a sign to judge whether the color of jadeite is natural or has been enhanced, it also leads to uneven color distribution, which reduces the value.

Color is the most important characteristic. It is always the first thing that will attract buyers. As for every colored gemstone, color is the most important factor in judging a gem; the more even is the distribution of color, the finer it is. Color is a combination of hue, saturation and tone. Hue is the kind of color (green in imperial jadeite); saturation is the intensity of color; and tone is the lightness or darkness of the hue.

Top quality Imperial jadeite can be described as follows:

● a very intense pure green color, ideally that of vivid “emerald” green, although even the finest jadeite tends to be slightly yellowish-green rather than bluish-green.

● a high saturation—more intense color—and sometimes this saturation is described as striking or even “vulgar.”

● a tone of medium to medium dark. The distribution of color (all of the above) must be even throughout the material with no roots or brown or whitish shades.

The second most important color is lavender. Jadeite with a fine texture and excellent translucency is rare, and the color is usually much paler than less refined material. Therefore, the desirability and value of the stone will be based on the balance between the intensity of color and translucency. The finest colorless jadeite has a smooth texture, glass-like translucency, no gray or blue tint, and is free from natural inclusions.

The Cut does not affect the value of jadeite as much as color, texture and translucency. Because of the availability and yield of the material, however, bangles, hoops, beads and large cabochons are generally priced higher than other shapes of comparable quality. Top quality jadeite is usually cut from the veins or patches of color in a big stone boulder. More than half of the jadeite boulders mined are of no commercial value, and the remaining usable material mostly produces low to medium quality commercial material. It is very rare that a boulder contains veins that could produce the vivid emerald green, fine texture and glass-like translucency of “Imperial Green” jadeite, and even more rare to have enough material to produce a bangle or numerous beads to make into a necklace.

The Size is, of course, a factor that affects the value of any gem; the bigger it is, the more expensive is the gem. The most costly and desirable types of jadeite jewelry are bead necklaces. Top-quality jadeites are often referred to as ‘old mine’ jadeites originating from the reputed mines in Hpakan in Burma. Their dense structure, fine crystals, even color and high translucency deem such specimens to be the best in the world. However, such exceptional jadeite boulders are extremely scarce and relatively small in size, jadeite beads that could be cut and polished from these rough are mostly 5mm to 10mm in diameter.

Necklaces consists of bead of 14mm to 17 mm matched in color and of superb quality are extremely rare and it is a wonder of Nature when one appears on the market.

In terms of treatments, it should be noted that the varieties of jadeite that have undergone enhancements, such as pickling, glue injection, waxing and dyeing, appeared only in the second half of the 20th century. Treated jades will thus not appear in antique or period jewelry. It is also needless to mention that superior quality Imperial Jadeite has not undergone any treatment to enhance its appearance or color.

Considering price, the Chinese have a saying: Buy expensively but don’t buy wrong. Imperial Jadeite is valued by connoisseurs not only in the East but also in the West.

Jades at Auction

Taking all of the above characteristics in consideration, plus provenance, it is clear why there is such a variation in the prices jade jewelry fetches at auction. To narrow down the number of record-breaking sales of jade, we focus on these pages on Imperial Jade, while offering a few examples of lavender jade and multi-colored pieces for comparison. As you will see, the prices commanded are not at all insignificant.

Looking back in history, one of the most magnificent jade necklaces ever to appear on the market is that owned by Mrs Barbara Hutton. The heiress to the Woolworth empire, she was one of the most important jewelry collectors in the 20th century, with an amazing collection of exquisite gems. Every piece of jewelry in her collection was worthy of special mention.

Among Hutton’s favorites were jadeite jade and nephrite, which were introduced to her by the owner of a San Francisco- based jewelry store, Abe Gump. Gump specialized in Oriental objets d’art and it has been said that even when he was blind, he could appreciate a fine quality jade or fine jade carving just by touching it.

Although the majority of Hutton’s vast collection was ornamental, she had some magnificent jadeite jewels. Her famous jadeite necklace consists of 27 beads measuring 15.40 mm to 19.20 mm, exhibiting perfect proportions, a luminous glow from within, rich green color and so perfectly matching that they must have been carved from the same boulder.

Jadeite beads involve immense waste, so jadeite bead necklaces are the most valuable and sought-after pieces of jadeite jewelry. The original provenance of this prominent necklace remains a mystery. The one thing we do know is
that these 27 superbly matched green beads of superior quality appeared in Europe during the early 1930s. Since jadeite is different from other gems generally found in the West, in terms of structure and hardness, it is highly probable that this necklace could only have been cut and assembled in China, where artisans had the savoir faire and experience with jadeite.

Considering price, the Chinese have a saying:

“Buy expensively but don’t buy wrong.”

Cartier must have acquired the jadeite necklace and sold it to Hutton’s family before her marriage to Prince Mdivani, around 1933. It remained in her possession for about 20 years, after which she gave it to her childhood friend, Louise van Alen. The jadeite bead necklace was kept in that family until 1988, when it was offered at auction in Geneva as part of Princess Nina Mdivani’s (Hutton title after her marriage) collection. At that time, it sold for US$2 million— the highest price ever paid for a piece of jadeite jewelry, either in the East or the West.

In 1994, the necklace sold again at an auction in Hong Kong for US$4.2 million, again setting a new world record for jadeite jewelry. Since then, it has become one of the most legendary and important pieces of jadeite jewelry worldwide. It was last sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in 2014 for US$27.4 million.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to the following: Mrs. Shanne Ng, Deputy Director Specialist jewelry, Hong Kong Sotheby’s; Fung Chiang, Vice President and Senior Specialist, Jewellery Department, Hong Kong Christie’s; and Professor Xuemei He, Professor at the University of Geoscience in Beijing, China.

The post Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green appeared first on Incolor Magazine.

Leaves, flowers, and other elements of Nature have always been a major inspiration for Sabina Lee. In addition to using colorful gems to capture’s Nature’s beauty, she also draws on her Chinese heritage with the use of jadeite, designed in ways that evoke traditional motifs, but with a more contemporary flair.

“Jadeite has been the beloved gemstone for Chinese for centuries,” explains Sabina. “The stone has rich meaning and power. It is thought to have a healing effect on the mind, to bring good fortune, enhance health and happiness, and even to fight against evil spirits. Jade is also perceived by the Chinese to be closer to Nature—and therefore closer to humans—than other gemstones. Many believe that, as much as a person is searching for the right piece of jade, a good piece of jade is likewise searching for the right person to find it.”

When asked why most contemporary jewelry designers have not paid much attention to jade, Sabina responds, “It is primarily because they don’t appreciate jade’s cultural significance or its intrinsic beauty. For the nonjade designer, it is also difficult to understand the value of jade, since prices can vary a great deal and there are also treatments to consider. For my designs, I use only Type A jade, which is natural and untreated.”

She goes on to explain that treated or enhanced jadeite falls into three other main categories: Type B (chemically treated and resin impregnated jadeite); Type C (dyed jadeite); and Type B+C (chemically treated, resin impregnated and dyed jadeite).

Are most of her clients for jade jewelry Chinese? “Yes, in general,” she answers, “but recently we are seeing more and more Western clients asking for jade pieces. Perhaps this is due to increased familiarity with the gem—just look at the record prices and the publicity jade has generated at the auctions—or perhaps people are looking for something new, or perhaps it is due to an increased desire to learn more about Chinese culture.”

Or, perhaps, the reason lies with her more contemporary designs that incorporate the beauty of a unique stone that signifies happiness and the natural world.

Part of Sabina’s appreciation for jade results from her upbringing in Hong Kong. Her parents cared about both traditional and modern cultural values; she was therefore nurtured in both. When she was young, she often accompanied her mother and other relatives to specialty jade jewelers, which led her to develop a discerning skill for judging and appreciating the gemstone.

Her years of higher education in Canada consolidated her design philosophy. “It is both a challenge and an opportunity to use jade, blending traditional and cultural motifs and values with contemporary tastes,” she says. “My jade pieces are a meeting place between East and West, between Nature and culture, between tradition and modernity.”

While many jade pieces today are in simple settings, Sabina incorporates the gem into more complex designs that showcase the stone’s beauty. What colors of jade does she use? “For my collections, I mainly use green jade as this is the most popular color requested by my clients.” She adds, however, that she has used purple jade in specific designs for custom-made pieces.

Where does she source her jade? “I purchase the jade for my designs directly from the jade cutters in China who purchase either from the mine or from jade markets, for example, in Myanmar.” And speaking of Myanmar, she notes that high quality gems are mined in that country and are also highly appreciated there.

She also calls attention to the very large pagoda made entirely out of jade near Mandalay. “It stands as a testament to the cultural appreciation of the stone not only in Myanmar but attracts visitors from around the world.”

“Most of my clients are true lovers of jade, and their appreciation and collection of the gem is a lifelong pursuit”

And, when it comes to her lovely garden of jadeite jewels, it is clear that the appreciation of jade is also a lifelong pursuit for Sabina Lee. (www.greengjewelry.com)

Photos are courtesy of Sabina Lee, unless otherwise noted.

• Jadeite Jade
• Hetian Jade
• In Search of Mayan Jade
• Relishing Jadeite from Rough to Remarkable
• Imperial Jadeite the Divine Green

The post A Thriving Jadeite Garden appeared first on Incolor Magazine.