TIMELESS JADE

Archaic Mastery Of Nephrite Jade

Carving

This Zhao Dynastic Nephrite Jade anthrozoomorphic small figurine-pendant, at first glance looks like what a famous New York auction house termed ‘imaginary figure’, upon initial viewing. However, given the fact that they only touched the figure and turned it around in their hands, inspecting it without even the use of a loupe before rejecting the figure, seems a bit on the hasty side. Granted, it is quite a fantastic figure and certainly not a common motif, with a mixture of Neolithic, Shang period and Zhou period designs, but such items have been created for millennium, and do show up in the oddest of places. In the old days, we also had been told that a certain piece couldn’t be real because the person viewing had never seen that particular design before. Thinking rationally on this, one will certainly realize that literally millions of hectares of land have never been archeologically examined, and it is but a small leap to think that more items are buried under at least some of that land, and not every piece or design created has been seen by every ‘professional’. When we first examined the piece, the weight was right and the ‘feel’ of the stone seemed correct. It was really then a matter of determining whether the “Owl Man’ was a modern replication or just an unusually rare artifact, based more on science than on guess-work. Coming from the Chernysh Estate Collection of Naples, Florida, and originally having been purchased along with an unrestored, exquisite white jade belt buckle of definitive 18Th Century vintage from an older Naples Estate collection, gave us further reason to investigate this ‘strange’ jade figure.

Despite this figure being subjected to two weeks of acetone soaking, a light oxalic acid bath (to loosen any baked-on dyes), and an additional overnight soaking in bleach (to remove any recent dyes), the figure remained in its original condition with no loose modern polishing compound detected even in the bi-conically drilled suspension hole. It had also been ‘shot’ with our high pressure spray gun and still retained all of its integrity, except minor loss at the very top of the figure where the black portion of the nephrite, containing more iron than the the rest of the originally green stone, was starting to oxidize, as can be seen in the top photograph as the reddened area mixed in with the blacker parts. This is a definite sign of natural deterioration of the stone, and not a condition we would associate with intentional acidic aging, as strong acid baths tend to effect the entire nephrite stone, and when used on more modern simulant stones, exposes flaking plates over the entire stone and is easily identified on most modern fakes today. This acidic treatment, after thorough cleaning, also causes a very whitened surface devoid of natural soil penetration and extreme loss of natural coloration, which was not the case in the original ‘cut marks’ of the ‘Owl Man’.

Above Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSi Using Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens

Above Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSI Using MPE 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens

In the top photo above we can see just how finely the original artist depicted the ‘feathering’ and the epaulet-like shoulder feather in his creation. Similar to all the structural features of this magnificent work of period art, from the beaked face to the amazing musculature, right down to the rare anatomically correct genitalia, this unknown master shows traces of artistic Chinese design that truly extend from the Late Neolithic Period, with aspects of finer Shang Period pieces and those of both the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou periods. In the anthrozoomorphic motif we find the Neolithic. In the false relief and the bi-conically drilled, vertical suspension hole, we find the Periods of Shang and Western Zhou (indeed, the bi-conically drilled holes are found all periods). With the deeper true relief, we find the carving agreeing more with the Western and Eastern Zhou periods. Personally, I would put the piece closer to the Shang Period, but done by one of those masters that is found in every age, clear through today. However, that is conjecture as I was not there when it was made, nor when it was buried. The fact that it is at least of stated age I intend to prove in the remainder of the article.

Another possibility, seeing real degradation from burial, had occurred to me, that the ‘Owl Man’ could have been of Ming Dynastic origin because of the black on the top of the head portion, and darker areas as seen inside the crevices in the second photo above (traits well known from the Ming Period in dyeing newly-made pieces to replicate the originals with which the literati of the period were so fascinated – see previous article here on TimelessJade.com). However, after microscopic examination of the totally clean original stone (as will be shown in subsequent photographs), this was ruled out because of the depth and type of degradation found on what by then was obviously a lightly re-polished, much older piece. In the last photograph above we start to see the true remains of iron oxidation of the original green nephrite along with the remnants of old tooling marks and extensive wear from both degradation of the jade and the re-polishing efforts.

Above Photos taken With Canon EOS XSi Using MPE 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens

I have found over the years that it is only under microscopic analysis that both nephrite jades and jadeites truly start to reveal their inherent qualities, first with the structures of the stones and then second, with the ravages of time. Once again, not all nephrites are created equal, as the old books would have us believe, and there are truly so many variations as to be uncountable. Some parts of the stone are tighter and some are less fibrous, and as a result some parts are less resistant to wear and weathering, no matter what the conditions of extended burial might have been. In the three photos above we can see the same area under three differing microscopic powers, and in each one we go deeper into the mystery of the stone, the creation of an old archaic jade artifact, and the degradation, wear, and light re-working after unearthing of the item. We know now that this is not a Ming or Qing Dynasty reproduction, evidenced by the depth of the natural degradation in places of the original tooling marks, along with areas where the piece was tooled (and chipped during the tooling; this will even be found on in-situ 18th century cut-marks), showing the exact same amount of degradation and smoothed natural wear, and the natural oxidation of the iron following the weakest portions of the what is still considered by most knowledgeable geologists to be the ‘toughest stone’ on the planet. [Note: even being the toughest stone on the planet, nephrite still is not the homogenous mass the old books speak of, as we have had a 78-lb boulder of White Khotan-Hetian Nephrite shipped here to the Tucson, AZ desert, which then lost 10 lbs in water weight in just two weeks]. It is these more porous, ‘weaker’ portions of the stone, and the natural breaking-up of the microstructure from abrasives, along with moisture penetration, that leads to the freezes and thaws, which starts to degrade what appears to be a perfectly polished, totally homogenous creation made from the “Stone Of Heaven”. We also find on a mineral-colored stone (such as the iron which causes the pure white nephrite to be differing shades of  green to black, depending on how much iron is mixed with the pure white nephrite, or Ying Yu), that the iron oxidation will manifest differently under different conditions of burial over time. This degradation effect will also occur on pure white jade, as it still degrades in the weakest areas of the stone first, but the colors change more from exterior penetration than from interior degradation.

In all three of the microscopic photographs above, we can see what was shown in the three Macro photographs previous, but to a greater degree of detail. The ‘brownish’ areas in the naturally degraded tooling marks are deeper degradation with soil penetration. These are portions of the degraded nephrite that have never sloughed off, as has happened in the shinier areas.  The ‘reddish’ areas are from lighter oxidation of the iron in the originally green nephritic stone, and the ‘blacker’ areas are sections of heavier oxidation of the iron, and are to be expected on true archaic jades where iron is present in the original nephrite. Again, some parts of the original stone are more ‘contaminated’ with the iron, and some parts more porous, causing these differing effects, another contradiction of the theory of homogeneity in this type of stone. In the case of a vessel which has stood upright through its burial in a relatively moist environment, where the full surface was not in contact with the soil,  we will find more degradation to the bottom (similar to an archaic bronze which has held water inside); if shifted during burial by tectonic forces, we might find a greater degree of degradation to one of the sides. However, in a small, pendant-sized piece, as the one here from the Chernysh Collection, we would expect a more total coverage of differing magnitudes, which is exactly what is found over this entire amazing creation. Portions of the original tooling marks can still be identified in the grooves of the above six photographs, even with the heavy degradation which has occurred. These show up as more vertical ridges in some of the degraded cut marks and can be seen even under the degradation. In the last photograph above, the nephritic fibers really start to show up in fine detail, flowing much more like the Ogden Mountain nephrite from Kirk Makepeace’s newest mining operation, illustrated in our last article. Older, more tightly-grained, and more homogenous, Black Edwards from Wyoming would appear much differently at the same magnification, as we will show in an upcoming article. This is what makes these studies so much fun and never-ending, as new artifacts and specimen jades are examined.

In both of the above photographs, we find strong evidence for a ‘tighter’ portion of the original nephrite in a cross-section of two of the tooling grooves along the back of the ‘Owl Man’. This same structural quality occurs all the way up the tail, showing less oxidation of the iron and tighter fibering, along with much more visible original tooling marks. Also, the overall total degradation on this portion of the artifact seems to  be less than that of the whole in general, due to the ‘tighter’ structure of this nephritic area. It appears to not have occurred from less corrosive soils or less water penetration, as the original jade was still iron-impregnated green, as is seen in the lighter oxidation.  It was also not a matter of a better re-polishing effort, as will be shown and explained in subsequent photographs. In a nut-shell, the above tooling grooves show no evidence of re-polishing, and this effect of tighter and lesser fibering can be demonstrated (and will be, in subsequent articles) on many other examples of authentic archaic jade artifacts dating easily to the Middle Neolithic Period.

In the above two photographs are the only true remnants for verification of the re-polishing received by this creative masterpiece that I have been able to find, after over two years of on-and-off investigation. It occurs in a slight depression on the top of the head, just to the left of the groove that defines the left ear (this is on the viewer’s right). In the upper left corner of each photograph, we can see the very slight re-polishing marks from a very fine grit. The rest of the piece, not having these marks, tells us that the piece was most likely re-polished many years ago and was subsequently fondled or worn over the years, which removed these fine re-polishing marks from the remainder of the ‘Owl Man’. The fact that even the re-polishing marks are a bit pitted would lead us to believe that the re-working to highlight the carving would have taken place approximately 150-300 years ago. As there is no sign of re-burial degradation, I would personally suggest the lesser dating for the re-polishing.

With these four photographs above, we can again compare the physical structure of the differing parts of the Khotan-Hetian Nephrite used to create this figure. Comparing the four photos above with the two photos just above them – taken on the top of the head where the iron is most prolific – we can easily discern the difference in degradation and structural integrity of the two different areas. In the ‘top of the head’ photos, the degradation is markedly more advanced and easily seen in the lack of original tooling marks there. In the four above photos, the jade is clearly not as iron-rich, and the fibering appears to be slightly tighter, thus leaving markedly more visible original tooling marks with much less degradation. It is important to note this accelerated degradation is not entirely due to the higher iron content in the nephrite, as there are definite darker, oxidized areas showing a higher degree of original tooling marks. As such, we would suggest it is a combination of higher iron and looser fibering which cause the most highly degraded areas. This effect is often extremely easy to identify when viewing specimen slabs under magnification.

All Microscopic Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSi

In the two photos above, we can see one of the effects common to bi-conical drilling in that the two holes often do not meet up. While it is a rather common assumption, one that passes for fact, that these types of drilling holes post-date the Neolithic Period, this is simply not the case. We have identified rounded as well as the aforementioned tapered drilling holes in easily identifiable Neolithic Period items. In the advent of the recent verifiable archeological finds pushing the Pottery Age in China back to almost 20,000 BCE, Bronze Age back to the Holocene period, and the Iron Age back to approximately 8,000 BCE, we find no reason to disbelieve that bronze rod drilling technology started in some areas much earlier than was previously thought.

‘Owl Man’ Measurements – 4-1/2cm Height X 4-1/2cm Width X 1-1/2cm Depth

David Fredericks — Yulongwei

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 1:43 pm and is filed under Gemological & Geological Jade Articles, Jades From Other Perspectives, Jades Of Antiquity. 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.