Inaugural Santa Barbara Jade & Ocean Arts Festival
Antiquities Plus… & Timeless Jade along with the Fredericks- McIntire Collection is proud to be invited to participate as a sponsor in the 1st Annual Santa Barbara Jade & Ocean Arts Festival. While we would love to attend what we are sure will be a most successful Annual Jade Festival this year, with prior commitments abounding and a recovery from illness in its final stages, we will only be able to sponsor the Festival this year in our fashion. The Fredericks- McIntire Collection will be donating the above Qing Dynasty White Nephrite Jade Frog toggle to the Santa Barbara Jade Festival as a gift for them to give away, raffle, auction, or do with as the festival committee sees fit. This nephrite jade, frog toggle, will be accompanied with a Certified Appraisal (not a certificate of authenticity – which are only opinions, and are not legally binding) from Dr. Timothy William Jones PhD,. and a 100% Guarantee Certificate (as can be viewed on the Antiquities Plus… web site) on the item from Antiquities Plus… to be of the period and condition stated. It will also go with a promise to the end recipient for an extended, documented, microscopically analyzed, write up (some conditions apply), here on Timeless Jade. This wonderful little White Khotan-Hetian Jade toggle (in Japan this item would be called a Netsuke) has an extremely unusual green, naturally tinted, rind, or skin, and has been subjected to all the methods of cleaning and microscopic detection we show in so many articles here at Timeless Jade. All wear and tooling marks are guaranteed to be original and from the period onward. There has been no re-cutting or re-polishing of the jade and no appearance of artificial dyes in the unusual green rind or skin of the jade.
This unusual jade frog toggle still retains remnants of the original Qing Dynasty wax coatings in the grooves of the design (showing as light, reddish, lines in the designs originally cut into the jade, and seen in the photos above) even after being subjected to the acetone, oxalic acid, bleach, and high pressure water removal of any newer waxes. The only re-coating performed by myself, has been a light re-coating of the jade with a mixture of coconut oil and camellia oil combined. Both clear wax and oils are entirely acceptable by law (as long as they are not polymers, or dyed by US Federal law) to retain the ‘Type A’ designation. The newer, heavier, waxes, which were later applied to this jade frog (to make it look shiny and pretty), can easily be re-applied should one wish to make it all shiny again, (I personally like the use of oils, as they have more of a tendency to keep the jade ‘alive’). This wonderful little frog was chosen for donation by us for its unusual character of nephrite jade, genuineness of originality, and outstanding middle 19th century design. The quality of the main White Khotan Jade which comprises this frog toggle is of the highest, tightly fibered, translucent, to mutton fat white jade, (and it alone sells in the $3,000.00 US Dollar range in China). This toggle is 100% guaranteed to be Pre-UNESCO Treaty Legal, as I purchased it long ago and have displayed it at our old Jade Art Now Shows, Big Sur Jade Festival Show and at a past Jade Through The Ages Show. This beautiful toggle is also scheduled to be for public viewing at the magnificent Ty Warner Sea Center – Santa Barbara Museum Of Natural History for the week preceding the show (please contact the show for details).
Measurements: 6.7cm Length – 3.5cm Width – 3cm Height — Weight 108 grams (3.81 ounces)
We at Antiquities, Plus…, Timeless Jade, Timeless Artifact, and the Fredericks-McIntire Collection wish the Santa Barbara Jade & Ocean Arts Festival our sincerest best wishes for a most successful show (which we know will be a major United States Jade Showing, now and in the future), as many of the great artists and vendors who have shown with us in the past are attending, and are of the highest ranking in our opinion and regards. For those who will be fortunate enough to attend this professionally constructed, and beautifully located event, we wish the best of adventures into the world of jade and all the wonderful ‘treasures’ available at this Festival. Please, to everyone, to visit their web site and provide all the support you can.
David Fredericks — Yulongwei