gems, jade, Fischer

After my investigations on this subject have progressed to the point that I can no longer expect much that is new from such axes for inspection and examination, I find it appropriate to publish a compilation which, starting from the not-too-small axes, proceeds up to the giant specimens and acquaints readers with the previously scarcely suspected abundance of such messengers from antiquity in our regions.

corundum, ruby, sapphire, India.12, gems, Indian lapidary, jade, nephrite, Mughal jade, Hetian yu

THE only notice of gold plate in the Rig-Veda is an allusion to golden cups; but the references to jewelry are so numerous, that it is evident the precious metals must have been known and used in India for drinking vessels, and other domestic utensils from the first settlement of the Aryas in the Panjab. Gold is indeed a favorite simile in the Rig-Veda for the rising sun; and the wheels and yokes of carriages are described as made of gold. The Ramayana and Mahabharata offer abundant evidence that at the period when they were compiled in their present form the Hindus were perfectly familiar with works executed in gold on the grandest scale. Unfortunately no objects in the precious metals that can be claimed as authentic examplesof ancient Indian art have survived the wreck of time in India;unless any may still be hidden within the shrines of some of the more sequestered of the great idol temples. The oldest examples of really ancient gold and silver work found on Indian soil are the gold casket [Plate i] and silver patera [Plate 2] belonging to the India Office library, which have been lent to the Science and Art Department for exhibition in the India Museum at South Kensington. This gold casket is an object of the highest interest in connexion with the history of Indian art. It was found by Mr. Masson about forty years ago in one of the Buddhist topes, built on the sandstone. Sinkankas: Justly praised work: first part describes the Hindu pantheon in detail, followed by plates giving stylized representations of the deities, plus several plates of sectarian marks and sacrificial utensils. Second part provides details on handicrafts, and is “a reprint, with added text, of a portion of Handbook to the Indian Court at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878” (p. vi). Considerable information on jewelry, pp. 183–198, with substantial remarks on curious lore associated with certain gemstones used in classical Indian jewelry. Elsewhere are found brief comments on stone inlay work, especially that of Agra, including work in nacre, ivory, horn, and various stones, including jeweled jades. Goodland, pp. 59–60.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, amazonite, Brazil, feldspar

After my earlier publications demonstrated how abundant Mexico is in skillfully carved figures made from hard stones, it has always been my goal to trace the occurrence of such remnants of a lost American culture further south and east, to the Antilles, Central, and South America. From Central America originate, among others, the figures already presented in my work on nephrite (1875): Fig. 34, 35, p. 31; Fig. 42, p. 34; Fig. 115, p. 281; Fig. 121, 122, 123, p. 344; Fig. 124, p. 345 (where ‘Mexico’ is erroneously mentioned). From South America, one finds in the same work Fig. 9, p. 26; Fig. 18, 19, p. 27; Fig. 50, p. 38; Fig. 60, p. 45. At that time, the origins of Fig. 38 (frog or toad?), p. 33, and Fig. 41, p. 34, remained uncertain. For Fig. 38 (from the Geneva Museum, which I reproduce here as Fig. 1), I later became acquainted with further interesting counterparts. However, most of these pieces in the respective museums were also not attributed to a precise origin. These include Fig. 46, Plate VII (from Guadeloupe), as well as Fig. 73 and Fig. 74 on Plate VIII, in the same publication in the Archiv, made of nephrite, serpentine, and clay slate, the latter two now belonging to the Freiburg Museum (in this treatise […]).

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

A survey by Heinrich Fischer of the geographical distribution of prehistoric stone axes made of nephrite, jadeite and chloromelanite, with particular emphasis on specimens preserved in European public and private collections. Building on his earlier mineralogical studies of jade, Fischer compares reported finds and museum holdings in an effort to distinguish the three materials and to trace their distribution across Europe. The paper forms part of the nineteenth-century debate over the provenance of European jade implements and the extent to which their raw materials were locally available or introduced through long-distance exchange. It is important for the history of archaeological mineralogy because Fischer applies mineral identification to questions of prehistoric technology, trade and cultural contact.

gems, jade, China, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong

Hervey de Saint-Denys examines a green jade Chinese seal submitted by Léopold Delisle, using its inscription to illustrate two difficulties in interpreting Chinese seals: archaic character forms and literary allusions whose meaning cannot be recovered through literal translation alone. He reads the four characters as referring to the “Son of Heaven” and something “rare since antiquity.” Consulting the Pei-wen yun-fu, he explains that the latter expression conventionally denotes a person aged seventy or more, deriving from a celebrated verse by the eighth-century poet Du Fu. The inscription thus celebrates an emperor’s longevity. After considering four emperors whom he identifies as possible owners, he favours Qianlong on the grounds of the seal’s comparatively modern workmanship, the emperor’s literary accomplishments and his particular admiration for Du Fu. He further proposes that the seal belonged to the three years following Qianlong’s abdication in 1796, distinguishing the retired emperor’s personal seal from that of his reigning son, Jiaqing. A possible origin in the Summer Palace is suggested but not established. The note is principally an exercise in epigraphic interpretation and historical attribution, rather than a mineralogical examination of the jade.

Burma, jadeite, fei cui, jade, gems

A brief note summarizing the work of Damour in separating jade into different mineral catagories.

gems, jade, Mesoamerican jade, Guatemala jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mayan jade, Mexico, Moctezuma

Brief article on the meeting between Hernan Cortes and Montezuma, featuring a colored plate.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Sinkankas: Urges the study of mineralogy and identification techniques to assist in archaeological research, and highlights their relevance for related studies.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

An account by Oscar Loew of Lieutenant George M. Wheeler’s 1875 expedition through southern California, undertaken as part of the United States geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian. Loew describes the route and physical geography of the region, with observations on the deserts, mountain ranges, geology, mineral resources, springs, climate and vegetation encountered during the survey. Particular attention is given to the arid landscapes of southeastern California and the Mojave region, reflecting Loew’s work as mineralogist and chemist with the expedition. The paper provides a useful contemporary synthesis of the geographical and natural-history results of one of the major nineteenth-century surveys of the American West.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, turquoise, Sinai

A detailed Baedeker guide to Lower Egypt, the Fayum and the Sinai Peninsula, combining practical travel information with historical, geographical, archaeological and natural-historical description. The volume covers Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, the Nile Delta, the Fayum and, in a substantial final section, the Sinai Peninsula, with routes, monuments, maps and discussions of Egyptian history, religion, art and geography. Of particular gemological interest is the treatment of Sinai, a region historically associated with ancient Egyptian mining and with turquoise deposits and workings. The book is useful as a late nineteenth-century synthesis of contemporary European knowledge of Egypt and Sinai and as a guide to the archaeological and mineral-producing localities then accessible to travelers. The 1877 volume runs to 562 pages, with the Sinai section occupying pp. 492–548.