gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, Burma, China, Broken Bangle

A major mineralogical study of jade, forming Part III of the monumental Bishop Collection. Kunz treats jade not as a single substance but as principally comprising the distinct minerals nephrite and jadeite, discussing their composition, hardness, specific gravity, toughness, structure, color, translucency and other physical properties. He surveys the mineralogical history of jade and the gradual recognition of the distinction between nephrite and jadeite, together with related or jade-like materials. Considerable attention is devoted to geographical occurrence, including China and Central Asia, Burma, New Zealand, Alaska, Siberia, Europe and the Americas, and to the problem of determining the geological sources of prehistoric jade artifacts. Kunz discusses important natural occurrences and specimens, including the large mass of nephrite he obtained at Jordansmühl in Silesia in 1899, weighing 4,704 pounds. The study also considers coloration, alteration, varieties of jade, and the physical qualities responsible for its exceptional suitability for carving. Extensively illustrated and supported by contemporary mineralogical investigations, it was one of the most comprehensive treatments of jade as a mineral published up to that time and remains valuable for the history of jade mineralogy and provenance studies.