Collecting Jade As Asian Art Material

Jade is one of the most-loved collectibles. Its origins are ancient, its properties both medicinal and decorative. Though revered around the world, jade is most commonly associated with China, where it has been known for 8,000 years. The early Chinese called it yu and saw it as a living stone, radiating with an inner glow.

Often ground, mixed with wine and fed to the emperors, jade was believed to increase imperial longevity. Symbolically, a court gentleman, on reaching 80, was allowed to carry a jade pigeon on a pole. Concubines received jade scepters from their emperors. Mandarin hats had carved small finials on their tops and a jade plume holder in the back. Chinese women decorated their hair with jade. Han dynasty princes and princesses were sometimes buried in suits of jade, a notable feat accomplished by stitching together bits of jade with threads of silver or gold.

Around the turn of the 20th century, we start to see large, fancy and colorful carvings made for Western consumption. Table-top and decorative items produced between 1880 and 1900 were often embellished with silver or gold, even enamel. In the second half of the 20th century, traditional styles began to give way to an elaborate new standard.

There are two kinds of jade: hard and soft. Ancient jade and hard jade are often referred to as jadeite. Though found in a variety of colors, the most valuable is green. The most valuable green is a near emerald green called Imperial Jade or gem-jade. Other colors, such as yellow jade, have their place in the pantheon of Chinese carvings too. Soft jade is called nephrite. Its coloration ranges from slightly off-white to yellowish white or greenish white. The latter is often referred to as celadon jade.

When you see the word jade modified by an adjective such as serpentine jade, mountain jade, new jade, watch out. These names are often given to pseudo jades. The quality of your collection depends on knowing how to differentiate the real jades from the imposters. (You will find an entire chapter on fake jades in my book, Collecting Asian Art.)

Since jade is an ancient stone, it is useless to try to quantify it by date. Other criteria must be used, and one way is to know the forms that were popular during the different periods. New, machine- made copies of older designs differ from the originals in subtle ways. The most prominent is that new carvings rarely have the same aesthetic relationship to the stone as older ones.

To value a jade carving, you must first determine whether it is modern or pre-World War II. If the jade you are viewing has a high sheen, you will do well to err on the side of caution.

The next step is to figure out if the raw material is actually jade or a fake jade. Real jade tends to feel little bit colder than pseudo jade, so give it the touch test. Next, use a jewelers loupe to look for inclusions. There should not be any. Nowadays, carvers work around black spots and trapped crystalline formations, using holes and other tricks to hide impurities.

Finally, determine if the stone has been dyed. Again, get out your loupe. If you see that the color is located only in the fissures, you can safely say the stone has been artificially colored. If you do this and are still not sure, there are tests you can be done at home or in a lab.

To begin your comparison of jade carvings, look at the catalog for our upcoming International and Fine Arts Auction, or any of our past sales. We regularly vet and feature collections of fine jade carvings.

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