Late Eastern Zhao Period Royal Funeral Vessel

Transitional Re-Polished Grey Nephrite

Lidded Vessel

Originally with Total ‘Calcification’

Above Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Using MPE 65mm f/2.8 Lens

The above two photographs were both taken with the Canon Macro lens with the top photo at 1x and the bottom photo at 3X.  Other than the finer, secondary re-polishing marks, the top photo shows the main evidence of a second restoration of the vessel. The clear lacquer repair to the once cracked nephrite jade is the only repair of its type on either the top or the bottom of the lidded vessel. This later, clear lacquer repair also occurs just underneath where the finer (whiter looking) secondary re-polishing marks are, and is only about one inch long. The first black lacquer repairs held the nephrite lid together tightly during the second burial, which we estimate at being approximately four hundred years. The reason for the close approximation for the secondary burial is due to the high possibility that this vessel was found at least in the Ming Dynasty Period and re-cut and re-polished through the deep degradation that had occurred under burial up until that time. The initial cracks on the lid and vessel were fixed during this time period with the black lacquer glue, in all the areas that were exposed from the re-polishing. Most likely this vessel was revered during this period, and then re-buried along with the ‘treasures’ of the owner during his internment. Having been later uncovered, the jade had degraded to a slightly greater degree (which precipitated the second, light re-polishing we see), and an initial crack was found during the second re-polishing which required the application of the clear lacquer glue to stabilize the area. In the second photograph above we can see under 3x of the Macro lens the tongue of the main Dragon and the still in-situ tip, which, as before, would have been considered too fragile to re-polish. The area on the side of the tongue appears to have tree roots attached from the second burial, but in fact they are areas of wax from the Ming Dynasty cleaning and polishing that have shrunk in size and ‘rippled’ into a shape resembling a tree-root track. The dust that remains is from the third burial, and had attached to the fresh wax of the second re-polishing, and in turn became part of the surface. This can easily be removed with a good scraping of the surface, but we chose to retain it for the eventual re-sale of the vessel, its removal to be preformed in front of the new owners, if so desired by them.

Above Two Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 35X Microscopic Power

The two photographs above were both taken (as were all microscopic photos for this article) at 35X Magnification. This magnification keeps the pictures consistent and all that is needed for verification of the vessel can be found at this power and lower. In the upper photograph we can clearly see how the jade had cracked along the side of the lid (where this picture was taken) in Part Two of this three-part article. The old re-polishing marks can be distinguished from the newer light polishing by the pitting that occurs inside the horizontal degraded marks. Also, the general degradation to the jade around the initial black lacquer repair stands out in the waviness on the surface of the jade lid itself. When originally re-polished down through the deep degradation from the first burial, this area was cleaned and the lacquer glue applied and left to harden as it will in a moist environment between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, completely changing its chemical composition to the phenomenal glue that it is. After the glue hardened to their specifics, the vessel would have received a final ‘finish’ polish at a high number grit and would have appeared, after their waxing, to be shiny and almost new (minus the surrounding through-degradation). However, the first parts to start to degrade again would have been any soft areas and the remaining small sub-suface ‘damage zones’ from the recent re-polish. Even in so minute an area as the final high grit polish, the sub-surface to the nephrite jade is microscopically damaged and will be the first places new degradation will begin. This is why we get the secondary ‘bumpy’ surface look as the second re-polishing removes this thin degraded area. In the second photo above we can see an area where the first re-polishing never reached through to the beautiful grey nephrite in an area where the degradation from the original burial went too deep, and possibly all the way through the vessel. The lacquer glue in this crack shows up in stark contrast to the degraded jade surrounding it, and actually sticks out a bit from the surface, while the photograph sometimes makes it look like it is recessed. The old nephrite continued to degrade but the lacquer glue did not, as is the case even in glues of this sort that were originally used over three thousand years ago, as lacquer glue is impervious to water and other solvents in burial conditions. The only thing we have observed which could be called a weakness of this type of glue is that it will crack from sudden sideways shock, as it also appears to become more brittle the longer it cures.

Two Photos Above Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 35X Microscopic Power

In the first photo above we can see one of the original, old black lacquer repairs to a crack in the vessel lid, which is in a place under the dragon on the lid . It must not have been deemed necessary on the second re-polishing of the vessel and lid to re-polish this portion, which is not-so- visible on inspection from the outside. In this photograph we can see, in the white portions that were not re-polished off during the second re-cleaning of the vessel, the old lacquer repair and the consequent degradation (calcification) from secondary burial. Also, the pitting that has occurred to the nephrite jade is quite evident at 35 X power under the microscope, as are the nephritic fibers of the original jade. The brown staining on this and other parts of the vessel result from the first re-polishing and will readily come off, as the old staining has adhered to the nephrite over the years since it was first applied as an ‘antiquating’ technique which has been used on re-polished funeral items for hundreds of years. There are times when this brown antiquating method will not be removed due to the depth it has penetrated the nephrite and the time it has been allowed to remain on the stone, and thus becomes a permanent part of the living sculpture. In the lower picture we find the tip of the 100% in-situ tongue, which amazingly has stayed intact as have all the tips of the teeth of the dragons on both the vessel and the lid. These were surely deemed too fragile to re-cut and re-polish, and obviously remain in their current condition because of the foresight of those who were performing the two separate re-polishings. Degradation on the these areas is almost totally complete and runs through the entire tips of these protrusions. Once again we find the brown wax used to polish the vessel after the first repair, re-cut and re-polish. Some of this could be carefully removed for the original end-buyer of the vessel, but in this case it actually adds to the overall look of the finished piece, and under normal lighting it does not take on the more darkened look as it does here under 35X magnification. To remove some of the brown would be to take a risk in breaking these degraded tips which in our opinion is not worth the attempt, unless it were performed entirely by chemical means, with no sanding or pressure of any kind. Also, at this magnification, the tip appears to have taken on a ’rounded’ look, but at normal viewing the tip appears pointed, as it was when it was first made.

Above Two Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 35X Microscopic Power

In the above two photograph we can now identify two entirely separate portions of the vessel which show both re-polishings that have been performed to date. In the upper photograph we we find the first re-polishing that was performed approximately 500 years ago, and has since worn away and pitted. Looking closely we can see the vertical polishing marks, after the vessel was roughly polished to remove most of the deep, white degradation. Over the years following, the conditions of burial were most assuredly drier than the conditions of the previous two thousand two hundred years or more, evidenced by the fact that the nephrite jade did not degrade to anywhere near the point that it had previously. This is not to say it didn’t degrade in some places (which it did), just that it was a drier burial, and some parts of the vessel received more moisture than others, presumably because of how it was protected during the second burial. In this top picture we find a rare spot that had been kept relatively dry and thus did not degrade into the ‘calcified’ white we so often see, and as such it gives us a tremendous photograph of what approximately 500 year-old polishing marks look like, in the way they have pitted yet still retain their vertical grooves from the re-polishing. To the viewer’s bottom right in the photograph, we can see that some of the original degradation had worked its way through the entire vessel, causing the first cleaner to stop at this point, as going farther would not have shown the beautiful grey jade off any more, but only detracted by going through the vessel and leaving a hole. In the second photograph we can see evidence of the same pitted first re-polishings, but in another area more accessible to the second person attempting the re-polish work. The secondary re-polishing marks stand out in stark contrast to the older polishing marks, as they are much more ‘fresh’ in nature and leave the tell-tale whitish marks of newer cut-and-polished jades. In the middle of the photograph we find the best evidence of the earlier polishing that clearly matches that which is in the first photo above, and the whiter/newer scratches around it. At the top of the second photograph can also be viewed the mostly-in-situ degradation which runs so deeply through the sides of the original vessel.

Above Two Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 35X Microscopic Power

In the uppermost of the two above photographs we can now see the earliest tooling marks still showing on this magnificent vessel. These are the original tooling marks left from the drilling of the groove under the nose of the large Dragon on the main portion of the vessel. These deep grooves were created as new heavy grit was added during the final ‘roughing-out’ stage of the vessel, and can clearly be seen in both the darkened waxed area and the sides. This is what we would call ‘damage zone’ degradation, as the heavier grit crushes the micro-structure of the nephrite below the surface, and tends to degrade and wear-out there first. This is one of the main reasons we feel a very late Warring States Period dating  is justified for the vessel; however, it could also be of early Han Dynasty Vintage. What we find in the Royal pieces of the late Warring States Period is a ‘rougher’ original polish to the vessel itself, and especially in the tight areas where it was hardest to reach. The Royal Vessels of this period are extremely difficult to differentiate from their early Han Dynasty ‘cousins’, because a Royal piece is not a common Eastern Zhou Period subject, but one that was made for Royalty, and as such, the time and execution, choice of stone, and manner of polish would have been of the highest standard. However, when comparing those of the Warring States Period to those of the Han Dynasty, we find a finer polishing in the tighter grooves and harder-to-access places on the vessels, and even though the marvelously pierced tail of the dragon on the lid of the vessel would definitely suggest a Han Dynasty dating, we feel it is more in the smaller details that we find the true age of the vessel, as will be seen in subsequent photos. Since we are only speaking of a transitional period of perhaps as short as 50 years, this makes the exact dating of the vessel rather difficult, and we have to rely on what we see through the microscope and that which (as was described in an earlier section of this three-part series) the vessel tells us by the old Chinese method of ‘feel’. In the second photograph above, we find the definitive color of the second ‘white’ lacquer repair under 35X magnification. It is almost certain this color was chosen for the second repair as it was inside a foot on the lid of the vessel, and more closely resembled the color of the degraded jade and the surrounding material. It is not a ‘worn-off’ piece of lacquer glue where the dark has been removed, as the original dark lacquer from the initial repair was purposefully made blacker to match the darker grey of the jade, and was even used over the white parts of the jade. It also shows signs of  having been sanded or re-polished (as can be seen in the first photograph of this third part of the series). Additionally, it appears to have been ‘squeezed into’ the crack that had developed over the years, with much care and very little over-flow. This repair is from a totally different period, which we would discern to be approximately four hundred years after the initial black lacquer repair, and was most likely a repair to a slight crack that had ‘given way’ during the second burial of the vessel. It is interesting to note that some of the cracks in the Chinese burial nephrite jades, by the nature of some types of jade from the Khotan area, can reach one sixteenth of an inch or wider, and still maintain their integrity and not crack all the way through, but rather follow a pattern presumably laid down as the jade was cooling (as we often find nephrite from this area with a highly layered effect, to be shown in a subsequent article).

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Above Two Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under 35X Microscopic Power

In both of the above photographs we find two separate areas underneath the Dragon on the top of the lid where no re-polishing has taken place in either the first or the second time this vessel was removed from burial, and re-cut and re-polished. In both photos, all that can be seen are the original drilling marks which made the underside of the Dragon on the lid. The amount of wear and degradation these original tooling marks have seen over time is extremely evident as small grooves in the drilling got much wider and deeper over time, as the thawing and freezing occurred and the grooves progressively wore away. As mentioned above, this is more indicative of later Warring States attention-to-detail in most vessels for High Royalty. However, there are several anomalies of which one needs to be careful in determining which case scenario is most likely. First: for High Royalty, would be the case for how long the person was expected to live. In the case of younger Royalty, given an acceptable degree of similar quality workmanship, the longer the Royal lived, the more time that would have been available for the artists to exact the finest quality of workmanship, from the beginning in the working of the stone, down to the final steps of polishing. (Indeed, I find it the hardest to determine smaller pieces finished and polished by a master, that have undergone dramatic changes during burial – such as the Bi written about here in the TimelessJade.com article “Incredible Oxidized Warring States Period Bi – 100% In-Situ). Similarly, if a Royal personage was not of the best of health, adequate time to perform the exacting precision needed to make certain types of vessels (using such primitive tooling techniques, when compared to contemporary methods), to the degree of standards as for one who lived to an old age, would just not have been there. In some of these vessels we see a more ‘hurried’ approach to certain areas, such as the insides of the vessels where the core drilling marks were not fully polished, out and the general ‘detailing’ of the vessel may not have been quite up to par, given the shortened time periods involved. Second:  the case that not all artists are as ‘gifted’ in the final two stages of crafting of a vessel – the master carving of a roughed-out piece and the final degree of polishing. We see this same scenario throughout all of history, and it is why a masterpiece of any period depends also on these things mentioned. Third: this case lies in the stone itself;  it has always boggled us how much good quality stone came into the area most populated during these times of strife, such as the Warring States Period, when it is very clear that at other times of unsettlement of government and territories in China’s past, the supply of this stone did not flow nearly as well as we see in this surrounding period of perhaps 500 years. Given the amount of turmoil that occurred in this era, from the middle of the Warring States Period through the Western Han Dynasty, it is quite remarkable that nephrite jade of such quality and quantity was still able to cross the many borders it had to traverse, from the Turkanistan Region through to the more civilized areas of China.

Above Two Photos Taken with Canon EOS XSi Under35X Microscopic Power

In the above two photographs we can see two different areas where the ‘feathers’ were re-cut on the Dragon’s legs. It is often in parts like these where we will find some of the only true remaining vestiges of an original jade. While following the outline (sometimes drawn on) the person who is doing the re-cuting of a design will lift his wheel just a bit short of the exact ending of an old and original cut. This leaves us with a wonderful opportunity to explore in depth the two differing tooling marks. In these areas we can often determine the type of tool and technology that was used to do the re-cutting, and also a marvelous opportunity to study the original degradation left in the part missed during the new re-cutting. In the top photograph we can see where just a small amount of re-cutting occurred along an edge where the feather was tapering off, as they do towards the top and bottom of the feathering technique. Just below the white degraded portion seen in the photograph is the remainder of the original degraded feather. As we travel up and at an angle, we start to see the new grinding-wheel marks go off upwards and sideways from the remains of the pitted-out old original tooling marks. In the last photograph of  two feathers, we can see the approximately 500 year-old re-cuts, and the same fine sanding that has now started to degrade away, as the pitting in the old sanding-marks betrays. Towards the bottom of the picture there is even a small black/metallic piece of manganese, which appears to have been growing since the vessel was in its original burial, and was missed when the re-polishing was done all those years ago. Most likely this piece of manganese started when inside the degraded feather, and it was just a bit of luck that this particle prevailed.

[For our next article we are going to do another of our large vessels from the Eastern Zhao Period, which should prove to be a nice 'eye-opener' for those who enjoy this type of investigation. We will continue after that with more articles on different types of Nephrite and Jadeite under microscopic conditions, with a few wonderful smaller jades and their replicated counterparts, side by side.]

David Fredericks  –  Yulongwei — Phone: 520-991-2153 (USA)

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Jades Of Antiquity, The Awesome Feeling Of Jade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.