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

Although small, this collection contains 12 impressive archiac jades from the Hongshan culture to Western Han period.

jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, Burma, nomenclature, gems

The paper discusses the definition of jade virtue" in Chinese civilization and the distinction between jade and fei cui (jadeite), explores the gemological definitions and the Chinese-English nomenclature of nephrite (soft jade) and jadeite (hard jade), and further examines and identifies newly discovered varieties of jade and fei cui. Finally, it proposes a precise definition and systematic classification of jade."

corundum, quality.10, jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, Chinese jade, Chinese art, gems, jewelry, jewellery, gold, coral, kingfisher

Beautifully illustrated, this book studies jewelry and accessories of the Qing court based on the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Selected from the tens of thousands items in the collection, the items were divided into 5 categories: 1. Jewelry worn on the head; 2. Jewelry worn around the neck; 3. Jewelry worn on the hands; 4. Jewelry worn at the waist; and 5. Medallions, brooches, packet-watches, pendants, and others. The objects not only make extensive use of precious stones such as jades, rubies, and sapphires, but also exotic materials such as corals and Kingfisher feathers. This is a small book, it measures 13.7 x 9.8 cm. It illustrates 116 jewelry and ornaments of the royal consorts of Ch'ing dynasty with circa 140 color pictures, in bilingual, Chinese and English.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Guatemala, Mesoamerica, Mexico

Excavations in the Classic Period apartment compound, site 33:S3W1, in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico, have revealed the existence of two lapidary workshops. These workshops were spatially discrete and separate from domestic quarters and were located on the periphery of the compound, but still inside it, in open courtyard areas with packed earth surfaces. A number of stone grinding tools and work surfaces initially identified these areas as lapidary workshops. This assessment was confirmed by microartifact analysis of associated soil samples which indicate that a number of different raw material classes were used in the lapidary production. All of these materials, with the exception of basalt, are imported from outside of the valley of Mexico. Differential use of raw materials is present and appears to be based on the value of the commodity. Basalt and slate are the most common materials used, with greenstone and shell being the scarcest. The volume of raw material debitage is much greater than would be required for local consumption by the compound, suggesting that the lapidary artifacts were produced for exchange in the market of Teotihuacan. The scale of production, however, does not appear to be large enough to indicate that these materials were produced for long-distance exchange.

corundum, Burma.12, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, gems

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary

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

A major archaeological catalogue of jade objects excavated from sites of the Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangtze region. Drawing principally on recent excavations in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and the Shanghai area, the volume illustrates and documents the characteristic Liangzhu jade repertoire, including cong tubes, bi discs, yue axes, bracelets, pendants and other ornaments, many bearing the distinctive human-and-animal mask motifs associated with Liangzhu jade carving. The archaeological contexts of the objects provide important evidence for their chronology, typology and ritual use, while the richness and distribution of jade in burials illuminate social differentiation and the development of an elite ceremonial system. The volume became a fundamental reference for the study and classification of Liangzhu jade; individual pieces from it continue to be used as comparative material in later scholarship.

gems, jade, pyroxene jade, fei cui, guatemala, Mesoamerica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, archaeogemology, Mayan design, aesthetics, Olmec, Aztec, Guatemala, archaeology, lapidary, Teotihuacan

An analysis of fine stone and shell materials from Teotihuacan was undertaken to define the nature and organization of the city’s lapidary industry. More than 8,000 artefacts and manufacturing remains composed of jadeite, serpentine, slate, other fine stones and a wide variety of Atlantic and Pacific shell species were examined. These materials, recovered by the University of Rochester’s Teotihuacan Mapping Project, included complete and fragmentary beads, pendants, figurines and other ornaments, as well as small and minute waste fragments produced during manufacture. All specimens were identified and analysed both microscopically and macroscopically, and the resulting data were recorded in a computerized database. Three lines of evidence were used to investigate lapidary production at Teotihuacan. First, materials from a suspected workshop district were analysed to determine whether it had indeed functioned as a lapidary barrio. Second, lapidary materials recovered from twenty-seven test excavations were studied for evidence of production activities and for information regarding the use of fine stones and shells in a variety of contexts throughout the city. Third, materials from surface collections across all sectors of Teotihuacan were examined to identify patterns in the distribution and use of lapidary materials and to locate areas where high concentrations of manufacturing debris might indicate workshop activity. The results confirmed that lapidary workshops were concentrated in a barrio on the northeastern edge of the city, as earlier investigators had suspected. This district appears to have produced lapidary objects intended for the middle strata of Teotihuacan society and has therefore been interpreted as a barrio of local workshops. Additional local workshops may also have existed elsewhere within the city. Although the state probably controlled the flow of raw materials into these workshops, direct state control over production itself appears to have been limited. A second, more specialized level of lapidary production was also identified. Workshops located adjacent to major temple and pyramid precincts seem to have operated under the supervision of temple or palace authorities and produced luxury goods intended for the upper levels of society. The study further explored the symbolic significance of fine stones and shells as materials associated with fertility, abundance and prestige. Notably, it demonstrated that images of jadeite were employed as a form of glyphic notation in Teotihuacan mural painting, underscoring the cultural and ideological importance of jade within Teotihuacan society.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology