gems, jade, nephrite, Russia, Lake Baikal

This study describes all known 150 jade items from ten Early Bronze Age cemeteries on the western coast of Lake Baikal. Although the outcrops of jade are located far away, the material was widely used. Green jade was employed for making tools, whereas ornaments were made of white or light-colored jade. The choice was motivated by durability, color, translucency, and rarity. Binocular microscopy was used to reconstruct manufacturing technologies. Most artifacts belong to the Glazkovo culture. Calibrated radiocarbon dates of burials with jade items, corrected for the reservoir effect, fall within the 4597–3726 BP interval. Results of the mineralogical analysis indicate two remote sources––the Eastern Sayan Range and the Middle Vitim Highland.

gems, jade, nephrite, jadeite, fei cui, China, Burma, Chinese jade carving, coral, agate, quartz, rock crystal, chalcedony, onyx, amethyst, turquoise

This catalogue documents the works selected for the 2017 China Jade Carving and Stone Carving “Tian Gong Award,” providing an extensive visual survey of contemporary Chinese lapidary art. Richly illustrated in color, it presents prize-winning and selected carvings in nephrite, Fei Cui, crystal, agate, turquoise, and numerous other gem and ornamental materials. The works encompass traditional subjects drawn from Chinese mythology, religion, landscape, flora and fauna alongside increasingly contemporary and experimental designs, demonstrating both continuity with established carving traditions and innovation in composition and technique. Individual pieces illustrate the carvers’ use of natural color, texture, skin, inclusions, and irregularities in the rough as integral elements of their designs. As an annual record of the Tian Gong competition, the volume documents important artists, materials, workmanship, and stylistic developments in Chinese jade and stone carving during 2017.

gems, jade, Chinese jade, nephrite, Chinese jade carving

This volume presents a comprehensive study of the jade artifacts excavated from the Hamin prehistoric site in Inner Mongolia, an important late Neolithic settlement in northeastern China. The contributions examine the forms, materials, manufacture, use, and archaeological contexts of the Hamin jades, placing them within the broader development of prehistoric jade culture in the region. Particular attention is given to typology, technological features, traces of manufacture and use, and the relationships between jade objects and other excavated remains. Comparative discussion considers similarities and differences between the Hamin material and jade traditions at other contemporary or related archaeological sites, contributing to questions of cultural interaction, exchange, and the transmission of jade-working traditions. Rich archaeological documentation and specialist studies make the volume an important reference for understanding the role of jade at Hamin and its place within the prehistoric jade cultures of northeastern China. The characteristics of the exchange, the craftsmanship of the Hamin jade, the relationship between the Hamin jade and the Hongshan culture jade, the use of the hook-shaped jade and the Siberian shaman and the animal statues, make us have a deeper and more accurate understanding of the Haman jade.

gems, jade, China, Chinese jade, Xinjiang, Khotan, Hetian jade, nephrite, Chinese art

For hundreds of years the Bactrian camel ploughed a lonely furrow across the vast wilderness of Asia. This bizarre-looking, temperamental yet hardy creature here came into its own as the core goods vehicle, resolutely and reliably transporting to China – over huge and unforgiving distances – fine things from the West while taking treasures out of the Middle Kingdom in return. Where the chariot, wagon and other wheeled conveyances proved useless amidst the shifting desert dunes, the surefooted progress of the camel – archetypal 'ship of the Silk Road' – now reigned supreme. The Bactrian camel was a subject that appealed particularly to Chinese artists because of its association with the exotic trade to mysterious Western lands. In his lavishly illustrated volume, Angus Forsyth explores diverse jade pieces depicting this iconic beast of burden. Almost one hundred separate objects are included, many of which have not been seen in print before. At the same time the author offers the full historical background to his subject. The book will have a strong appeal to collectors and art historians alike.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, jade business, jade trade

Using a boulder owned by his family, the author describes and illustrates the process of assessing, cutting and evaluating jadeite jade rough to maximize its investment potential.

gems, jade, nephrite, Chinese jade carving

In Pursuit of Fine Jades" is a series of books dedicated to the study of beautiful objects made of jade in ancient China from the Michael S. Liu collection."

gems, jade, archaic jade, China, Chinese jade carving, nephrite, amphibole jade, cong, hsuen chi, bi, ceramics, silk, tea

This illustrated introduction to the history of China offers a fresh understanding of the country’s progress from the Neolithic age to the present. Told in six chapters arranged chronologically, through art, artefacts, people and places, and richly illustrated with expertly selected objects and artworks, it firmly connects today’s China with its internationally engaged past. From the earliest archaeological relics and rituals, through the development of writing and state, to the advent of empire, the author charts China’s transformation from ancient civilization into the world’s most populous nation and influential economy, offering the reader a myriad of historical insights and cultural treasures along the way. This accessible book presents an eclectic mix of materials including the decorative arts, costume, jewellery and furniture-making, running through to the most recent flourishing of Chinese culture. It will stimulate, fascinate and inform anyone interested in one of the greatest and most influential nations of the modern world. With over 600 illustrations.

gems, jade, amphibole jade, nephrite, pounamu, New Zealand, Maori, gold rush

This thesis examines the reinvention of pounamu hei tiki between the 1860s and 1940s. It asks how colonial culture was shaped by engagement with pounamu and its analogous forms greenstone, nephrite, bowenite and jade. The study begins with the exploitation of Ngāi Tahu’s pounamu resource during the West Coast gold rush and concludes with post-World War II measures to prohibit greenstone exports. It establishes that industrially mass-produced pounamu hei tiki were available in New Zealand by 1901 and in Britain by 1903. It sheds new light on the little-known German influence on the commercial greenstone industry. The research demonstrates how Māori leaders maintained a degree of authority in the new Pākehā-dominated industry through patron-client relationships where they exercised creative control. The history also tells a deeper story of the making of colonial culture. The transformation of the greenstone industry created a cultural legacy greater than just the tangible objects of trade. Intangible meanings are also part of the heritage. The acts of making, selling, wearing, admiring, gifting, describing and imagining pieces of greenstone pounamu were expressions of culture in practice. Everyday objects can tell some of these stories and provide accounts of relationships and ways of knowing the world. The pounamu hei tiki speaks to this history because more than merely stone, it is a cultural object and idea. In this study, it stands for the dynamic processes of change, the colonial realities of Māori resistance and participation and Pākehā experiences of dislocation and attachment. The research sits at an intersection of new imperial histories and studies of material culture. The power of pounamu to carry multiple meanings and to be continually reinterpreted represents the circulation of colonial knowledge, and is a central contention of the thesis.

gems, jade, amphibole jade, nephrite, China, Chinese jade, agate, amber, scholar’s rocks

Beautifully photographed collection of unusual stones fashioned by Chinese artists in agate, amber, jade and scholar’s rocks.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, jadeitite, Japan, fei cui, geology

This paper presents a review of Itoigawa’s jadeitite in history, culture, process of rediscovery, and geological characteristics. The people of the Jomon age used jadeitite as tools as far as 7000 years ago, making it one of the oldest jadeitite cultures in the world. The jadeitites from Itoigawa were the source of ornaments such as pendants or comma–shaped beads that can be dated to the Jomon age through to the Nara period. These ornaments are widely found in Japanese Islands from Hokkaido to Okinawa Prefecture, and also in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The jadeitite, however, was not used after the Nara period. The disappearance of jadeitite culture is not well understood, but it may have been caused by the introduction of Buddhism into Japan. Therefore, the existence of jadeitite in Japan was forgotten for a period of 1200 years after the Nara period. Mr. Eizo Ito rediscovered jadeitite from Itoigawa when he identified the durable green rock in the Kotakigawa River in 1938. His success was inspired by the idea of Mr. Gyofu Soma. The rediscovered jadeitite was studied by Dr. Yoshinori Kawano of the Tohoku Imperial University in 1939. There are large jadeitite boulders weighing more than 100 tons found in several areas of the Kotakigawa and Ohmigawa Rivers. These areas are designated national natural monuments. The jadeitite from Itoigawa can be found in various colors such as white, gray, black, lavender, and blue. These color variations are caused by the presence of trace elements such as iron and titanium in jadeite and omphacite, and tiny graphite inclusions in jadeitite. The absence of quartz and euhederal jadeite crystals with natrolite and veinlets of jadeitite indicates that the Itoigawa jadeitite does not form through decomposition of albite, but by hydrothermal activity. Some strontium dominant minerals such as itoigawaite were first found in jadeitite from Itoigawa. These strontium dominant minerals form in the calcium depleted hydrothermal solution in the late stages of jadeitite formation. The Jomon is the oldest jadeitite culture worldwide, and the first documented use of precious stones in the history of mankind. In addition, the jadeitite found in Itoigawa is the oldest known unit of its kind.