A Tremendous Han Dynasty Bi with Pseudomorphs
100% In-Situ Western Han Dynasty Bi With Old Pseudomorphs & New Crystalline Growth
This wonderful, 100% in-situ Nephrite Jade Bi in “Yuan” style comes from the estate of the late Ronald Edwin Prosser of Iowa City, Iowa. This large, prestigious and previously unknown private collection of jades, stone and other artifacts is currently being authenticated, assessed and marketed by us on behalf of the heirs of the estate and their attorneys.
Dimensions: 80 mm Outer Diameter X 38 mm Inner Diameter X 4-5 mm Depth
Dating from around 200-250 BCE, this Bi was masterfully carved in approximately the Late Warring States to Early Han Dynasty Period. While the motif consisting of three Tao Tei Water Buffalo designs with touching horns and interlocking scroll patterns (both sides) is reminiscent of a later Warring States period design, the perfection, thinness and craftsmanship of the finished Bi lends itself more to the Early Han Dynastic period, and can be safely dated within at least the transitional period mentioned above. We have found that later Warring States Period pieces can be as well-crafted as the finest of the early Han Dynasty jade workmanship, and we believe it is sometimes a matter of skill level that holds true throughout history, even up to today; if ten artists were to display works of similar design, there would always be those couple or few artists who stand out above the rest. The other main consideration in dating this Bi with a certain degree of accuracy comes from the fact that stylistically, meaningful Period designs did not change radically on a certain calendar date, but were rather, we believe, altered in a more gradual manner. Other factors that should always be considered as helpful criteria towards as accurate as possible dating of an artifact are the choice of stone, degree of degradation of the stone, burial conditions, and workmanship, including accuracy, tooling, and polishing techniques, which will be discussed as this article progresses.
While most often this old an artifact made from nephrite jade is described as a light green with russet inclusions, or something along similar lines, the original jade was of a translucent white-to-clear nephrite with pseudomorphs, iron pyrite crystals and softer inclusions in what is often mistaken as a pure nephritic stone. It is a well documented fact that ancient cultures often chose their stones for color, purity, workability, durability and even for Shamanic power. Artists today still use the same criteria when choosing their stone of preference for a particular effect. Starting out with an extremely unique nephrite, as in this case, would most certainly have been by choice in the period within which the dating falls. The three-water-buffalo design in a Tao Tei motif would most likely have been used to signify strength and solidity without gluttony or a too-high regard for personal indulgence. The fact that a white/translucent nephrite (Ying Yu) was chosen is significant in the fact that this type of stone was reserved for the royalty of both the Warring States Period and the Han Dynasty. The discoloration in this 100% in-situ Bi was most assuredly caused by the intrusion of iron from outside environs, as is quite commonly seen in the famous lighter colored nephrites chosen by the Hongshan Culture, which have been buried for millennia in the Loess Plateau region of China. The Loess Plateau region is a well documented formation that is extremely high in iron deposits, and is the type of intrusion we see in this particular Bi, and noted in the following photograph. It is interesting to note that many replicas of Hongshan artifacts have started showing up in the past year that are in fact a type B jadeite style, acid-etched and dyed to near perfection with a Loess soil-type coloration.
Above Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSI
While Nephrite Jade is often described as having a very specific structure and chemical composition, it is actually one of the most fascinating and diverse stones on the planet, and we believe it will always prove to be resistant to such strict categorization. For years the old way was to describe nephrite with the terms ‘nephrite jade, hemi-jade and semi- jade’. While we personally still use these terms in describing both the stones and the artifacts we examine, to the best of our knowledge no exact formula or percentages of purity have ever been assigned to these differing ratios. We personally like the approximate percentage of the different terms to read: 90% nephrite and above being considered pure nephrite, 65% to 90% being considered hemi-jade, and approximately 45% nephrite being used to designate semi-jade, which is often what we see when the stone is intermingled with serpentine, quartz or other minerals. With this Bi we can clearly see the approximate percentages of pure nephrite and inclusions in the the photograph above, where the degradation shows easily with the simplest of testing methods – the’ through light transmission’. However, in the case of this Bi, we believe it was by design and deliberate choice that this particular stone was used for such an important piece. It is not hard to imagine what a beautiful finished sacred Bi this would have originally been, with its glowing pseudomorphs and pyrite crystals, polished to perfection of the age.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi Using Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Lens at 1X
In the above photograph, we start to see several defining signs of a true archaic jade artifact, and the aforementioned pseudomorphs. At only 1X power of the Macro lens, we can define the true fibrous nature of nephrite jade as can be seen in the clearer, shiny area to the upper left side of the photo, and along the inner defining ring to the left of the original cross-hatching, shown in the lower left. This photograph also shows well the original wear, due to handling and tectonic movement, to some cut-marks that define the horns of the water buffalo in the center of the picture. There are also definite original manganese deposits showing in the tooling channel that defines the outer ring of the Bi; they appear as small, shiny, darkened spots. It should be noted here that this Bi had previously been soaked in acetone by us for over a week, and no residue of wax coating was detected. Even after a thorough scrubbing with tub & tile cleaner and a high-pressure “power wash” with our hand-held jet sprayer, these manganese deposits were unaffected, which would not have been the case, had they been the usual black paint or carbonized sugar commonly used to replicate the appearance of manganese deposits. It is also noteworthy at this time to point out the original, degraded tooling marks that appear over the entire Bi, and the slight “Chicken Bone” effect on the flatter surfaces. As will be seen in additional photographs, these original degraded tooling channels differ greatly from the extremely common, whitish, ‘re-cut’ marks found on most old, re-polished archaic jades, which are often necessary in order to re-define areas that have eroded away during long term burial. This re-polishing, re-etching method is easily discerned in the large Bi on the jacket cover of the famous book ‘Jade’, Consultant Editor Roger Keverne.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi Using Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Lens at 3X
In this photograph at higher power, we are looking at the extremely degraded portion of the Bi that can be seen in Photograph 3, at the top right portion of the Bi. Here we find under close-up setting, the wonderful greenish/yellow color penetration from the iron rich soils from burial, in an area that holds the remnants of an old pseudomorph where the harder “skin” of the pseudomorph is still present, and the center of the pseudomorph has degraded away and is being replaced by new quartz crystals. In the lower left section of the photograph can be seen the remnants of a chatoyant crystal, with re-growth of the newer crystals visible inside. This entire section is a bit more indented than the rest of the Bi because it was the softest part of the stone, originally cut with a string saw. String saws leave distictive ‘tracks’ even if they are polished out as masterfully as this Bi was. In the softer areas of the original nephrite stone, the saw would have a tendency to “eat it” a bit as the shapers were working the stone for the master to finish. This can be felt by touch alone over the surface of the Bi, even though the Bi appears perfectly flat at first glance. From a side view can be seen the narrower portion of the degraded area, and when the Bi is placed on a perfectly flat glass surface, it “wobbles” as all authentic archaic Bis do to some degree. Generally they take on a convex side and a concave side from the string-saw cutting, and it is with the concave side up that most authentic Bis wobble the most . With the concave side down they tend to rest on the outer edges of the Bi and therefore are more stable on the flat surface.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSI Using Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X at 3X
While the picture above this one starts to show the crystalline “skin” of an old pseudomorph with newer crystals growing inside and around a portion of the skin, this picture is of an old degraded pseudomorph with a portion of its interior still intact. Of note is an original tool mark that is easily visible passing through the old pseudomorph. The skin of the oldest pseudomorphed crystal is clearly visible (with a still-solid section of the old pseudomorph inside of it) but the newer crystals had started to take on an even darker color from the surrounding iron-rich soil, as compared to the previous photo above. This should be thought of much as a white nephrite pebble or cobble, taken straight from what are commonly termed the Black and White Jade Rivers of Turkanistan. These pebbles and cobbles often have a deep red rind that could only have been formed by intrusion of iron and oxidation externally from the iron-rich waters and soils they travel through, on their way down the rivers from the mother-stone deposits. True white nephrite jade is pure, and does not have the necessary iron in its structure to produce the same type of red rind as we see coming from a green stone that is colored that way by the iron components that are part of the stone.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi Using Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X at 3X
The above picture shows a thick-walled, double pseudomorph in clear detail, with other pseudomorphs in the surrounding nephrite jade. The new crystalline growth is showing finer detail and less of the Loess soil and iron penetration, which leads us to suspect that not all the pseudomorphs dissolved and re-grew new crystals at the same rate. The dark spots inside the furthest right pseudomorph are other manganese crystalline growths. Note the white ‘chicken-bone’ degradation on the main parts of the nephrite surface, and the degraded tool marks.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi at 35X Microscopic Power
The picture above shows a much closer and clearer view of the double pseudomorph in the previous photograph. This picture was taken without any back-lighting, to show the true color of the new crystalline growth inside of the old pseudomorph ‘skin’, and clearly shows the difference in color of the iron-intruded nephrite and the double, crystalline skin of the pseudomorph. The pseudomorphs are often harder than the surrounding nephrite due to the ion exchange that most likely occurs when they are first created. The harder (on the Mohs scale) quartz and less hard, but tougher nephrite jade, seem to “bond” together to create a harder but perhaps a bit more brittle nephritic stone. These are the first specimens of pseudomorphs we have ever run across that for some unexplained reason, seem to have undergone a dissolving of their interior and then replacement by other growing crystals.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi at 35X Microscopic Power
A wonderfully clear photograph showing tool marks and the degraded “damage zones” which accompany them, in an original design with no re-polishing or re-etching of the design. Also, please note the chatoyant band of fibers running through the center of the picture, perpendicular to the tool marks in the design. These particular tooling marks in this Bi do not come from the usual drilling technique that is used to form the original grooves as the master is forming the piece, but rather, in this instance, are a result of the final polishing. In this photograph, a drilling mark would go side-to-side between the walls of the design. As stated before in this article, there were many very fine craftsmen during the period when this Bi was made, and then there were true masters of the art. The master who made this Bi was one of the finest workers of jade I have ever seen from that period. The only true drilling marks left on the Bi are from the original core drilling of the outside and inside surfaces, and these are minute. The extreme polish this Bi underwent is another indication of its significance as a religious artifact. The tooling marks on this Bi only show up now because when the heavier grits were used to form and polish the piece, they damaged the micro-structure underneath the surface of the nephrite on a molecular level. When the master was finished with this Bi, it would have had an almost perfect shine to it, but due to the ravages of time, the freezing-and-thawing and tectonic wear, the tooling marks began to be penetrated by soil and water, and consequently started to wear away at the damaged micro-structure; this shows up as tool marks, the same as if they were produced yesterday with heavier grits. The main difference between these and the deeper gouge marks made by the coarser grits, is that the deeper, heavier grit marks are usually spotted most easily in the suspension holes of artifacts, and inside the grooves of their design. In these worn-away polishing marks, they run with the design, which is the case with polishing out modern drilling marks and smoothing out the degraded damage zones, with which every modern jade artist is familiar.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi at 35X Microscopic Power
This wonderful photograph show an in-situ oxidized iron pyrite crystal in the groove that defines the inner circle of the Bi. Also, more of the tooling marks can be quite easily discerned. Besides the marvelous pseudomorph crystals in the original Nephrite chosen to make this stupendous Bi, there were also these sparkling ‘golden pyrite crystals’ which occur quite frequently, interspersed thoughout certain Khotan jades from the Turkanistan region. This crystal and the original crystalline pseudomorphs would have been, after final polish by the master, extremely visible and very attractive. As stated before, these ritual objects of royalty were held in very high esteem, and presented with much ceremony and all the appropriate blessings of the High Priests of the time. Imagining the event of the Presentation is not difficult, and the small Bi must have seemed imbued with “power” at that time. By the amount of natural wear to the cross-hatched areas and other places where the Bi was held for ceremonial purposes, one gets a feel for the importance of the object, and yet its exact use by the royalty is lost in time. All in all, its precise symmetry, masterful workmanship, and powerful design still reach out to us today with a sense of “power” and a bit of awe.
Photo Taken with Canon EOS XSi at 35X Microscopic Power
It is extremely unusual to find heavy manganese deposits in jade artifacts from the area west of current Beijing, as the area starts to get so naturally dry as we head further north and west towards the Gobi desert. It is this author’s belief that artifacts found in the more southerly regions around the globe where rainfall is more frequent and consistent, produces much larger and more readily identifiable manganese deposits. We believe two factors contribute to the adhering growth of manganese crystals: 1) The amount of manganese found in the area where an artifact was located. 2) The moisture available in the region to facilitate the growth of the manganese. We have always found much more manganese growth on artifacts from wetter environs, such as Thailand and Central America. In some Western Neolithic artifacts we can find manganese traces only on the original surfaces, or in crevices, and only by using 45X power or higher on our microscope. This is by far the norm, after examining well in excess of one thousand artifacts from different regions. Having viewed under microscopic conditions approximately 1,000 authentic archaic stone pieces from China alone, we more frequently encounter the degree of manganese seen on this item, on artifacts from the more southerly environs. However, there are some very exciting examples of more Northerly artifacts, a few of which we will soon be sharing on this jade forum, to further illustrate this point. We consider the wonderful manganese “track” found on this Bi to be a very unusual anomaly, along with the rest of the highly visible areas of manganese on this 100% in-situ Bi, which would do justice to any finely studied, authenticated, and displayed collection in the world.
David Fredericks – Yulongwei
Great. …. Really Great.