Black Wyoming ‘Newer’ Quartz Pseudomorphing  Next To Old  Frog Skin Morphs

Lacking the sophisticated millions of dollars-worth of equipment of a lab, such as the GIA, field amateurs must often do their best with the tools at hand and the observation skills given, and acquired, after years of research and a undying fondness for the quirks we find in nephrite jade from the different-source materials we acquire.  My main study in jade has always resided in archaic manufacture and design, with an interest in the archaistic copies and refinements in techniques, and subsequent interference during time periods of upheaval, due mostly to warring and aggression along with the re-emergence of excellence during times of relative peace and stability. In the course of these studies, I have run into some of the most amazing new artists, and the raw material with which they choose to make these fabulous new creations, in what has been an approximate 10,000 year history of using the “Stone of Heaven” to create the most wonderful and enduring works of spirituality and  beauty, which during approximately the Holocene Period had been used mostly for axes, celts, and hoes.

Wyoming Nephrite With Pseudomorphs In Various Stages Of Development

With this in mind, I first got interested in pseudomorphs found in nephrite jade while viewing some clear, fully  transferred specimens in finished works of art during the First Annual Jade Art Now Show in 2007. This set my mind in gear as Peter Shilling and I discussed the matter, and he explained the currently-accepted general theory of their occurrence. The current thought process at the time was that Quartz crystals that had either been totally absorbed by the nephrite formation, or had adhered to the nephrite on its rise from the depths of the earth, had been dissolved or degraded over the millenia and had been replaced in its natural crystal structure by forces that had caused the nephrite to “fill in” the void left behind. Under microscopic analysis of some of these pseudomorphs, we began to see some anomalies in this theory and wanted to find some more examples to examine. Mr Warren Rees, G. G., who was attending the first annual Jade Art Now Show, noticed my curiosity and in his delightful Southern-Gentleman way, made it a point to bring me many samples from his years of hunting, cutting and carving Wyoming Nephrite specimens over the years. Peter Shilling and Warren both brought multiple specimens to the second annual Jade Art Now Show in 2008 (and I had collected a few specimens during the year), for all of us to further examine with the naked eye and under microscopic conditions. This gathering of specimens and investigation was also furthered by us and other artists, during the Third Annual Jade Art Now Show in 2009.

Wyoming Black Nephrite With Quartz Pseudomorphing to ‘Frog Skin’

Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 25X Microscopic Power

By the end of end of the Third Annual Jade Art Now Show in 2009, we’d all had a wonderful opportunity to view different pseudomorphs in different stones and in differing stages of development. While viewing mostly specimens of Wyoming origin (which is considered the oldest nephrite jade by the Smithsonian Museum and the American Natural History Museum, being Precambrian in age), some pseudomorphs from the region of Turkanistan were also observed in a re-polished Ming Dynasty gray Nephrite Vessel along approximately one-third of its entire height. In these specimens it clearly shows that the quartz crystals do not dissolve and get replaced by the nephrite jade under pressure, but that there is a most likely a very clear form of atom-exchange that occurs during the stones’  long history, in association with the “foreign objects’ it either forms around, adheres to, or picks up in its path to the surface. Pictures will be added to this post in the coming weeks to show what we see in these formations, but perhaps the most phenomenal of all specimens (a sawn in half Black Wyoming Boulder) will have to wait for photographing as it is presently in the hands of Mr. Rees; it shows the most incredible rounded, egg -shaped formations that have “borrowed the iron’ from the true black Wyoming nephrite and created the familiar “frog skin” green inclusions, frog skin with red circles around them, small solid red pseudomorphs and incredible pieces of hard, red, botryoidal pieces on the “skin” of the Wyoming boulder itself.

David Fredericks

The Mystery of Jade 

Throughout The Illustrious History of China Ancient Jade was considered the most noble of all gems; to the extent that it was simply designated under the name Yü, “precious stone”. During the first portions of the Neolithic Period we see Nephrite Jade being considered so powerful of a stone that only the Shamanic Kings could own it and the first items of religious significance were created from it. Jade has always played an important part in Chinese history, so much so it was once said, “If jade and pearls were lost from the Kingdom there would be nothing left for thieves to steal”. Yü means “treasure” in Chinese the way “gold” means “wealth” in English. According to myth, the stone was born during a storm, and for this reason every home had jade in its foundations to keep lightning at bay. According to another myth, the stone was crystallized moonlight that came from the holy mountains. It was naturally the royal stone, and believed to be the incarnation of the cosmic principle. As such, it was said to possess the five essential virtues of Chinese philosophy: compassion, modesty, courage, justice and wisdom – but it was also credited with benevolence, knowledge, righteousness, virtuousness, purity, endurance, ingenuousness, morality and music. A disciple of Confucius once asked him why men valued jade more than serpentine. “Is it because jade is scarce and serpentine is abundant?” Confucius replied: “It is not, but it is because men of olden days regarded it as a symbol of the virtues. Its gentle, smooth, glossy appearance suggests charity of heart; its fine close texture and hardness suggests wisdom; it is firm and yet does not wound, suggesting duty to one’s neighbor; it hangs down as though sinking, suggesting ceremony; struck, it gives a clear note, long drawn out, dying gradually away and suggesting music; its flaws do not hide its excellence’s, nor do its excellence’s hide its flaws, suggesting loyalty; it gains our confidence, suggesting truth; its spirituality is like the bright rainbow, suggesting the heavens above; its energy is manifested in hill and stream, suggesting the earth below; as articles of regalia it suggests the exemplification of that which there is nothing in the world of equal value, and thereby is Tao itself.”