gems, jade, amphibole jade, nephrite, Chinese art

Sale of the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman. Features a copy of the Bishop Collection, along with many fine jades. Alan Hartman was a noted New York antiques dealer.

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

The book includes over a hundred jade carving artists (spanning over a century in the book's timeframe), showcasing more than 50 classic works from different eras, regions, styles, and materials, focusing on representative figures and artworks in the world of art. Zeng Weisheng emphasized that during the writing process, every effort was made to respect history and spare no expense in researching materials, in order to uncover the people and events that deserve their true historical status and to restore those forgotten historical facts and steadfastness. One of the significant ways of inheriting the skills in the jade carving industry is through generations, with nearly a thousand influential jade carving artists (masters) documented over the past century. However, it's rare to find father and son pairs both achieving outstanding artistic accomplishments. The book only highlights the father-son pairs of Gu Yongjun and Gu Ming from Yangzhou and Lin Hengyun and Lin Fei from Fuzhou. After outlining the development of Chinese jade culture over the past century, the book attempts to explore relevant issues concerning the future development of modern Chinese jade culture and provides recommendations. Liu Zuochen, Executive Director (President) and Party Committee Secretary of the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, pointed out that the selected time period in the book is highly representative. First, both the photography techniques and records have never been so detailed and exquisite as seen in this book. Over a hundred masterpieces have been passed down, showcasing both orderly inheritance and continuous innovation, which demonstrates the author's vision and grasp of jade culture. Second, the structure and framework are rigorous, balancing between an overview and specific subtopics, making it scientific. Lastly, the images are exquisite, especially in the seventh chapter, which lists classic jade artworks from over a century, allowing readers to grasp the development of jade craftsmanship and derive aesthetic enjoyment from it. Bi Lijun, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Jewelry Jade Jewelry Industry Association, stated that the development of Chinese jade culture over the past 100 years has been both tortuous and splendid. The book primarily focuses on jade carving artisans and jade artworks, conducting a detailed analysis and summary from historical and artistic perspectives. It includes two essential sections: Jade Carving Artists" and "Classic Jade Carving Artworks," fully reflecting the author's appreciation and respect for jade carving art and its creators. It is hoped that this book will promote the better inheritance and innovation of Chinese jade culture. Shi Hongyue, Deputy President and full-time Vice President of the China Jewelry Jade Jewelry Industry Association, highly praised the comprehensive exploration of jade culture in this book, spanning over a century and covering aspects such as the historical background, figures, events, mineral resources, classic artworks, education, market, and craft styles. He believes that this book lays the foundation for advancing Chinese jade culture. Renowned jade artists Song Shiyi, Tian Jianqiao, and Zhang Tiecheng shared their thoughts on the current state and future of modern Chinese jade carving. They unanimously agreed that the entire jade carving art world should look back to tradition, delve deeper into the new value of jade beauty and craftsmanship in the modern context, and reevaluate the standards of contemporary jade carving art with an attitude of "revival and reflection." Based on this foundation, they should continue to draw from the strengths of world art, exchange and blend, and ultimately create a jade carving development path with distinctive Chinese characteristics and artistic features."

gems, jade, fei cui, pyroxene jade, jadeite, fei cui, omphacite, kosmochlor, fei cui hardness, Broken Bangle

Jade has a long and varied nomenclatural history, with its definition altered in the current age for practical and cultural reasons. Due to the discovery that many pyroxene jades are composed of various amounts of jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor, the term “fei cui” has been proposed and widely accepted. It has been suggested that since the reported hardness of omphacite is lower than that of jadeite, a clear distinction should be made between omphacite- rich fei cui and other fei cui because of the potential long-term durability issues. Hardness also has a complicated history, as there are many factors to be considered when assessing the hardness of a material as well as its relation to scratch resistance. In this paper, the author examines these two topics and presents them in a simplified format based on empirical evidence and theoretical principles, while also considering the data available in literature.

gems, jewelry, Chinese jewelry, Chinese contemporary jewelry, jade, Chinese history, jade

Sumptuous volume in slipcase that was issued in conjunction with the 14 April to 14 August 2023 special exhibit of the same name at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. This featuress many famous pieces, including the Hutton jadeite necklace.

gems, jade, amphibole jade, nephrite, pyroxene jade, fei cui, jadeite, maw-sit-sit, multidisciplinary approach, identification, characterization, green stones

The present review aims to discuss the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in cultural heritage and archaeometry investigations. The analytical methods used to identify and characterize “Green Stones” are discussed as an example. In the present paper, the term Green Stones is applied but not limited to jade materials, which have considerable importance in cultural heritage studies. In fact, archaeological samples made in Green Stones have been discovered worldwide, with many dating back to the Neolithic Age. Moreover, these materials represent an interesting analytical challenge, starting with their nomenclature and, in most cases, the nature of their polycrystalline samples and their heterogeneity. Indeed, after a brief introduction about the advantages of the non-destructive analytical techniques commonly used for gemstones and cultural heritage samples analyses, the limits of the same have been discussed on the basis of Green Stones applicability. Finally, a multidisciplinary methodology for Green Stones identification and full characterization, which considers materials’ heterogeneity and information, has been proposed and based on different references.

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

Chapter on the quality analysis and appraisal of fei cui.

gems, jade, nephrite, jadeite, fei cui, jade nomenclature, jade identification, jade misnomers

Glossary of jade and its imitations.

gems, jade, geology, nephrite, jadeite, fei cui, Japan, China, Burma, Myanmar, Russia

The effects of tectonic processes on archaeological sites are evidenced by earthquake damage, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami destruction, but these processes also affect a broader sphere of landform structures, environment, and climate. An overview of tectonic archaeology is followed by a detailed summary of geoarchaeological fieldwork in Japan. The effects of tectonic processes on archaeological sites are evidenced by earthquake damage, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami destruction. However, these processes affect a far broader sphere of landform structures, environment, and even climate that envelops an archaeological site and triggers human behavioural activities. Tectonic processes derive directly or indirectly from Plate Tectonics and associated magmatic activity of the Earth’s mantle. This volume thus provides a primer on crucial subduction- and suprasubduction-zone processes due to Plate Tectonics, where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are generated. After a general survey of how tectonic effects are dealt with in geoarchaeology, Part I details how these processes are applied to understand the Japanese landmass’s development, from continental accretion to volcanic archipelago, as a world-standard example. A full glossary of geological terms is included for easy reference. This is followed by detailed examinations of Japan’s tectonic archaeologies in Part II: TephroArchaeology, Earthquake Archaeology, and Tsunami Archaeology. Part III summarizes and critiques the authors’ own geoarchaeological fieldwork in Japan which was underwritten by a clear exposition of its geological and geomorphological background. Looking holistically at a locale and its development through geological time is fruitful in understanding the lay of the land, its resources, and its hazards that affect human occupation potential.

gems, jade, Chinese scholar’s rocks, scholar’s studio

VSANA: This is a significant publication, perhaps the most important book on Chinese Scholars’ rocks published in 2022. It is more than just a documentation of the gift of 112 Chinese stones presented to the U.S. National Arboretum (USNA) in Washington, D.C. by Kemin Hu. Hu is a well-known stone collector, dealer, and author of several books about classical and modern Chinese viewing stones. Last year, Hu decided to present many of her stones along with 17 stones that were originally in her father’s collection in an eventual effort to establish a Chinese Scholars’ Rock museum within the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the USNA. Several features in this book combine to make it an outstanding volume. First and foremost is the catalog section that divides the 112 stones into nine sections. Stones with shared characteristics are grouped in each group. This is an immense aid to readers. It can be difficult for people to experience difficulty in understanding the breadth of stone appreciation in China, with more than 600 different types of viewing stones recognized by the View Stone Association of China. However, Kathleen Emerson-Dell’s grouping of the Hu donation into nine sections is a good educational aid. The first section, Honorable stones, features 17 stones from Hu Zhaokang, Kemin’s father. A second section, Distance Mountains, brings together those stones reminiscent of faraway mountains. Narrow, vertically oriented stones are brought together in the Towering Peaks section; while colorful stones are assembled into another section Stones of Color. A small section is devoted to fossils that have long been a part of Chinese stone appreciation practices for many centuries. It is nice to see that enhanced stones, which have been carved, shaped, and polished, are recognized along with the natural stones that have only been cleaned in preparation for display. Enhancing stones has been integral to Chinese stone appreciation from ancient times to the present. Not all students of Chinese stone will agree with the statement that carved stones are differentiated from natural stones by adding the Chinese term ling long. The Chinese words, ling long, have long been used for delicate or graceful stones, especially with rocks that possess many holes. This term has been applied to completely natural stones and to enhanced stones. Scholars have shown that the ling long has different meanings over time. The carefully researched article about the appeal of Chinese Scholars’ Rocks by Phillip Bloom is an important scholarly contribution to understanding the complex nature of Asian stone from ancient to modern times. He succeeds in dissecting and explaining the appeal of scholars’ rocks. It appears that Bloome may represent the next generation of scholarship on Chinese viewing stones by adding to the immense contributions of the earlier generation of scholars—Hay, Mowery, Stuart & Little. Cultivated Stones is a beautifully designed volume with a sharp layout and stunning and evocative photographs of the one-hundred-plus stones Illustrated. It is a quality publication from all aspects of production—paper quality, binding, and binding.

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

This paper examines characteristics of the Northern Song jades, in order to discuss the influence of archaism on them and also on the jades of the Southern Song. It will also discuss the interaction between jades of the Northern Song (960–1127) and Liao (816–1125), and the Southern Song (1127–1279) and Jin (1115–1234). Archaism in the Northern Song attracts scholarly attention to the burial objects from Lü Dalin’s tomb and those from the tombs. of other members of the Lü family in the same cemetery. Unearthed archaistic bronzes and jades, a large number of stone objects made after Zhou and Han bronzes and jades in particular, provide physical information for studying literati taste for, and interest in, archaism during the Northern Song. Author and compiler of the Kaogutu, Lü Dalin and his family should recognised as among the earliest enthusiastic advocates of archaism.