gems, jade, nephrite, USA, Wyoming

gems, jade, nephrite, USA, Wyoming

gems, jade, nephrite, archaic jade, Chinese jade, Japan

An illustrated catalog of ancient Chinese jade objects, presenting a substantial collection of plates with accompanying text. It documents carved jades as archaeological and artistic objects, providing visual material for comparative study of their forms and decoration.

gems, jade, nephrite, USA, Wyoming

gems, jade, Chinese jade, nephrite, Chinese jade carving, jadeite, fei cui

gems, jade, nephrite, USA, Wyoming

jade, archaic jade, nephrite, China, gems, Fischer-Chinese

Huang Jun’s four-volume catalogue records a large body of ancient Chinese jades that passed through or were known to his Zunguzhai antiquities business in Beijing. The objects range broadly from archaic ritual and ceremonial forms to ornaments and figurative carvings attributed at the time from the early dynastic period through the Qin and Han. The catalogue is principally visual rather than analytical: objects are reproduced in exceptionally clear collotype photographs and rubbings, generally with little or no identification or commentary, making the work primarily a documentary record of important jades circulating in Chinese and international collections during the early twentieth century. Among the pieces illustrated are cong, bi and notched discs, gui, axes and dagger-axes, human and animal ornaments, inscribed pieces, and elaborately carved jades. Many objects subsequently entered major Western museum and private collections, giving the catalogue continuing importance for provenance research and for tracing the modern collecting history of early Chinese jade.

gems, jade, Chinese jade carving, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite

gems, jade, China, Chinese jade carving, Chinese lapidary arts, archaic jades, Fischer-China

This voluminous book was purportedly claimed to be a catalogue of jades from the imperial collection of the Emperor Xiaozong 孝宗 (1127-1194) of the Southern Song dynasty, but it is considered by scholars as a forgery published by Jiang Chun 江春 in 1779. Although this multi-volume set contains some incorrect information, it includes a detailed description for each object and thus is still regarded as a useful reference book for the study of Chinese jades. Taozhai guyu tu 匋齋古玉圖 (also written Taozhai guyu tu 陶齋古玉圖) is a catalogue on ancient jades compiled during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911), courtesy name Wuqiao 午橋, style Taozhai 匋齋, from the Manchu clan Tohoro (Ch. Tuohuoluo 託濶羅) and a member of the the Plain White Banner (Manzhou zhengbai qi 满洲正白旗). The catalogue was begun as a register of Duanfang's own collection of antiques, but was unfinished when he was killed in the pre-revolutionary unrest in Sichuan. The manuscript was sold on the book market, where Yang Shouqi 楊壽棋 found and acquired it in 1936. Together with the Shanghai librarian Wang Dalong 王大隆 (1901–1966) he edited the fragmentary text and published it in the Laiqingge Press 來青閣書局 in Shanghai. Each of the 150 object in the publication are descibed as to their features and origins.Sinkankas: Also given in Han-Shan Tang, London, List 28, 1985, no. 99 as Taozhai Guyu Tu [Illustrations of Jades in the Taoshai Collection]. Shanghai, 1936. 2 vols, 294 pages, many woodblock illustrations, 33 x 22 cm. Stitched, in cloth case. See also S.H. Hansford, Chinese Jade Carving, p. 138: “Illustrations and catalogue of 150 ancient Chinese jades in the collection of Viceroy Tuan Fang.” Loehr & Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades, p. 437, gives this as “Illustrated catalogue of ancient jades in the T’ao-chai collection.” Born, 22; Yang, 919. See: Wilson, Ming. What Do Books Tell Us about Their Buyers—A Case Study of the Guyu Tupu." In The Art of the Book in China, edited by Ming Wilson and Stacey Pierson, 105 –15. London: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 2006."

gems, jade, nephrite, Chinese jade carving

The work comprises a catalogue of 527 specimens in the author's col­lection of ancient Chinese jades ranging from the Sung to the Ch'ing Dynasties. The nucleus of the collection, inherited from his ancestors, was used as material for Investigations into Ancient Jades With Illustra­tions, published in 1889 by Wu Ta-Ch'eng. A portion of the collection came from the estate of a brother, Wong Jui Hsum, and the remainder was assembled by K.C. Wong over a 30-year period. He points out that since the articles in nearly every instance exhibit some form of sym­bolism with significance in religion, myth or folk-lore, appreciation of the object demands acquaintance with the ceremonial and social customs of the people. The author explains the relationship of jade to the cosmic deities, and elucidates the role of the dragon used in jade carv­ing. The catalogue gives dates assigned by Wong only when he is certain. In some instances he has chosen not to date a piece, especially if that type of object was carved during so long a period, that it is difficult to be precise. The illustrations are chosen to show the scope of the collection. Given for each article of jade is the designation, Chinese equivalent in Roman type, color, size (in inches) and period. A glossary of Chinese terms relating to jades is appended.