gems, jade, China, Chinese jade, archaic jade, nephrite, collecting Chinese jade, al Biruni, Arabic mineralogy

Examines jade carving in fifteenth-century Persia and Central Asia, emphasizing its princely ownership and the protective and medicinal powers attributed to the stone. Contemporary records illuminate jade’s circulation through trade, diplomatic gifts and tribute to China. Timurid vessels, including tankards with dragon-headed handles, and jade sword fittings illustrate its use as a prestigious material within Islamic court culture.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, Anthropology, jade trading, China, Ruili

Based on fieldwork among jade traders and carvers in Ruili, this chapter discusses the realization of economic and spiritual potentials of a type of jade called feicui 翡翠 as determination of a partially indeterminate material. Some traders posit feicui as an empty container for economic value, while the material constitutes spiritual fullness especially for carvers. An opaque layer of surface skin constitutes feicui as partially indeterminate by hiding its content. This invites investments of labor, meaning, and value that necessitate intimate human interactions with feicui in determining and realizing its economic and spiritual potentials. Exploring how its material properties configure the determination of feicui, the chapter adds a post-anthropocentric perspective to a structuralist analysis of human-jade interactions as mutually constitutive of both entities.

jade, jadeite, fei cui, Japan, gems

Even though Japanese jadeite lacks the transparency of the highest-quality Burmese imperial jadeite, its rarity and natural features make it a highly valued gemstone. In this study, jadeite from the Itoigawa and Ōmi regions in Niigata Prefecture and the Wakasa region in Tottori Prefecture, both on Japan’s western coast, were divided into several color varieties corresponding to chromophores and mineral phases: white (nearly pure jadeite), green (Fe-rich, Cr-bearing), lavender (Ti-bearing), blue (Ti- and Fe-bearing), and black (graphite-bearing). White jadeite from Itoigawa–Ōmi was close to pure jadeite (Xⱼd = 98, or 98% jadeite composition). Green jadeite from the same location had an Xⱼd range from 98 to 82. The maximum CaO content in green jadeite was 5 wt.%, and its chromophores were Fe and Cr. Whereas lavender samples had a jadeite composition of Xⱼd = 98 to 93 and tended to be high in TiO₂ and FeOₜₒₜ and low in MnO content, blue jadeite showed the highest TiO₂ concentration at 0.65 wt.% and had an Xⱼd range of 97 to 93. A blue jadeite from Wakasa had a range of 97 to 91 and a similarly high TiO₂ concentration. In trace-element analysis, chondrite-normalized and primitive mantle–normalized patterns in lavender, violetish blue, and blue jadeite from Japan showed higher large-ion lithophile element contents (Sr, Ba) and higher field strength element contents (Zr, Nb) than those in green jadeite, while white and black jadeite had relatively low REE contents. The Japanese jadeites were compared to samples from Myanmar, Guatemala, and Russia.

jade, nephrite, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, gems

Research on the Sa Huynh culture (ca 2500–1980/1800 BP) has been ongoing for more than a century, since the Sa Huynh site was discovered and excavated by French archaeologists in 1909. Hundreds of Sa Huynh jar-burial sites have been discovered from the coastal plains to the inland highlands and o shore islands in Central and Southern Vietnam. Numerous signi cant ritual objects and ornaments have been recovered in association with the jar burials and provide evidence for the wide geographic distribution of trading contacts across Southeast Asia during the Sa Huynh Period. is paper focuses on a comparative study of ornaments manufactured from semi-precious stone, metals and glass recovered from Sa Huynh jar-burial sites with those from contemporary sites across Southeast Asia and demonstrates how Sa Huynh society played a signi cant role in regional trade networks during the Iron Age.

jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, geology, gems

The world’s largest jade deposit, containing the highest-quality jade, is exposed in the Pharkant-Tawmaw (also spelled Hparkant or Hpakan and Tawhmaw) Jade Mines Belt, northern Myanmar. This belt is located between latitudes 25° and 26° N and longitudes 96° 12′ and 96° 25′ E in the Myitkyina district (Fig. 13.1). The belt extends in a north–south direction, covering an area of c. 1200 km2 (Chhibber 1934b). Major jade production sites are located in the Pharkant, Lonkin, Tawmaw, Haungpa and Hwekha areas. In these areas the rock type jadeitite, containing more than 90 vol% of the mineral jadeite, is associated with serpentinites, albitites, low-to medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chlorite schists, garnet–mica schists, graphite schists, glaucophane schists and amphibolites.Fig. 13.1. Geological map of the Jade Mines Belt (JMB) showing the localities mentioned in the text and the location of the samples described. Compiled by Thet Tin Nyunt, modified from Chhibber (1934a), Bender (1983), Than Tun (1997) and Thet Tin Nyunt (2009).The Jade Mines area of northern Myanmar is a highly dissected upland, higher in the north than in the south, with ranges of hills forming the Chindwin–Irrawaddy watershed. The main jade area around Tawmaw is situated on a plateau 840 m above sea level. Mountain ranges in the western part of the area rise to 600 m and are covered by dense vegetation. The eastern margin is bounded by the Uru River. The Tawmaw area is characterized by very high rainfall and, due to the tropical climate, the rocks are highly weathered and covered by a reddish-brown soil of thickness a few metres to tens of metres. Fresh samples of jadeite can be collected only from mine sites or from stream courses. In the Tawmaw area jadeitite is quarried from both primary deposits and as …

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Japan

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.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, jade quality analysis

Nice article on the finer points of judging the quality of gem quality Burmese jadeite.

gems, jade, China, Chinese jade, archaic jade, nephrite

How Angelina Kwan, a tough Chinese-American businesswoman, discovered her soft side through jade.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, nephrite, China, archaic jade, Chinese jade carving, Chinese art

This book is available only as an ebook. From the author: “Art collecting is a passionate activity that brings out the best and worst in human nature. The Emperor & the Motorcycle Mechanic is a collection of anecdotes derived from Sam Bernstein’s 35 year career as a leading international Asian art dealer. The completed manuscript consists of 50,000 words over 85 chapters with 67 illustrations. The volume provides an insider’s view of the art world, including stories about rare Asian artifacts, million dollar forgeries and some of the eccentric characters that inhabit an otherwise opaque and mysterious world. These vignettes include strippers, conmen, rabbis and royals, rock n’ roll stars, and a naked man with a parrot.” “In my experience there are undiscovered treasures hidden all over the world, under beds, and in attics, in missing bank lockboxes and forgotten warehouses. And yet for every priceless artifact there are hundreds of fakes and forgeries waiting to fool an unsuspecting collector. In my book I tell the story of how a dusty lump of jade purchased for $30 in a Parisian antiques shop actually belonged to an emperor and went on to sell for a million dollars at auction.” –Sam Bernstein

gems, jade, nephrite, New Zealand nephrite, Maori nephrite

What makes New Zealand jade such a unique and desirable stone and what historical relevance does it have today? Those are the questions being asked by Gem-A student Daniel Francey FGA in his Gemmology Diploma project, exploring the properties as well as the traditional and modern uses of New Zealand jade...