Asphyxiated with Lust....

When I chanced upon these jade flowers in a shop on my last visit to China I was almost asphyxiated with Lust (but not of the Lee Ang kind) and throwing Caution (he! he!)to the winds I just had to own them. Luckily they were still within my modest budget otherwise like Lee Ang's heroine I might have to stake my life on them !!

The jade blossoms are either round or elongated in shape and except for the centre flower, all are carved in multi layers. Made from nephrite they date from Ming to Qing times and the shapes and patterns are well documented in Cheng Te Kun's paper "Jade flowers and floral patterns in Chinese decorative art". These exquisite ornaments "full of subtle charm and beauty" were used to adorn m'ladies hair or bodice. The black one is very rare, I haven't even seen it in a collectors' book, thats how rare it is !

Blue Pendant with Buffalo under the Moon

This blue glass pendant hails from Yuan period of China (1115-1368 AD)and was purchased together with items in the 2 earlier posts.

According to Simon Kwan's book Early Chinese glass on page 355 where there is a picture of a similar pendant, the pattern is popular in glass and bronze during the Yuan period and many pieces have been excavated from Mongolian graves.The book also describes the drawing in the pendant as "Buffalo under the moon" What I am wondering is although I can see the buffalo, I can find no sign of the moon in the pendant. Nor in Simon Kwan's illustration on page 355. So I am still scratching my head as to why "under the moon" Only Simon Kwan can give the answer !

My piece is broken at the bottom and repaired and so appears Simon Kwan's example too.

Update go to https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2010/06/chinese-glass-ornaments-1.html

Fire and Ice

This tiny pair of earrings brings together my twin loves of jade and beads. I created this design by embedding red vintage glass beads into the heart of the vintage jade ring, the two held together with a silver clip. I love the flash of red glass lighting up the cool icy jade ring.

I never wear earrings myself, and how I became a maker and seller of earrings is another story. Why I never wear earrings is simply because I have never gotten round to piercing my ears.

Working with vintage jade can sometimes be frustrating because many of the standard findings will not fit into nooks and crannies of the old jade pieces.Making this particular pair gave me happiness as, bingo I quite fortuitously (learnt this word from reading Kundera) got everything to fit. I just hope that the earrings will be purchased by some sensitive soul sister and that it would beautify her ears and make her happy too.

Blue Florets and Pendant Beads Strand

Here's yet another blue beauty. Composed from the same hoard of beads and florets as that in earlier posts. The central disk pendant (2.5cm) in this set bears remarkable resemblance to the cover picture in A Bead Timeline. Not exactly the same, the main difference being the siting of the stringing perforation. The example in A Bead timeline p39 is dated to 1,500 BC. and comes from the Late Bronze Age of West Asia. However my piece came from a Chinese source and seller thinks its vintaage should be Song or Yuan period. For all I know (and hope) it may well be a Han piece especially the central pendant.

 Update go to post:
 https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2010/06/chinese-glass-ornaments-1.html

White Jade Bird in Semi Circle

This piece may have been part of a pair or it may have been a standalone. Bird motifs are popular among jade carvers and this one has been beautifully pierced and carved. I am not quite sure what it served as but as there are no perforations for attachement, I would guess that it is an inlay piece for box or cupboard. Probably a Qing piece.

Amulets, Pendants & Coil Beads Necklace

Another charmer (pun intended) is this ancient blue glass necklace which hails from the Song/Yuan period of China. For want of a better term I have described the tiny bits in this necklace, as amulets but maybe they can also be called charms as they look not unlike the lucky charms attached to modern day bracelets.

These beads and components were salvaged from the box of a connoisseur collector's rejects. I thought they look too fascinating for discards and so bought them over to ponder on them and finally was inspired to compose this "charming" necklace. I concede that this is not a wearable strand and merely provides enchantment to the eyes and mind of the beholder !

Below is an enlargement of some of the "charms" or amulets from the necklace

Shown above are a hand with outstretched finger, heart-shaped, tiny pendant and fruit.

Update refer to post https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2010/06/chinese-glass-ornaments-1.html

2 Large Glass Beads as Flower Pots

This pair of miniature flower pots are actually extra large jatim beads (6cmx6.5cm). Jatim beads are ancient glass beads from Indonesia. Unfortunately, this pair posted here may not be authentic. I had been disappointed with them for many years but now you may say "I have grown accustomed to their appearance..." and my crystal blossoms sit rather well on them too. Crystal blossoms, curtesy of my pal M.

Green Glass Beads & White Jade Split Ring Necklace

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

Its loveliness increases

It will never pass into nothingness

but still will keep, a bower quiet for us,

and a sleep, full of sweet dreams,

and health, and quiet breathing.

I don't know what Keats had in mind when he wrote these words but this verse sure applies to my milleniums old white jade piece and my centuries old emerald green glass beads. This necklace combines my love of jade and glass beads.

The white jade in the shape of a slit ring was purchased in Southern Vietnam. I guess its vintage to be from the Sa Huynh culture of Southern Vietnam,(1000BC-200AD) and according to research, such rings were used as earrings by the natives of that long ago culture. This type of earring must have been pretty widespread in Vietnam as they have also been discovered at contemporary Dong Son(1000 BC) culture sites of Northern and Central Vietnam. Moreover they are also similar to the jade "jue" earrings already in use in neolithic China from as far back as 4500BC and this form of Chinese culture must have filtered down into Vietnam. Apologies for the long winded historical stuff. I try to depict my treasured pieces light heartedly but as this blog also serves as documentation for my collection, it has to fit in a few crusty facts too. I am intrigued by how these slit rings can fit into the earlobes of neolithic and bronze age man or is it woman ? How could it be secured ? Did these man or woman pierce their ears or were these rings simply clipped on ? What manner of garments, robes or hairstyles accompanied these ear ornaments ?? Hmm.... so many unaswered questions!! In my humble, 21st century opinion, I think such rings look better as pendants like the one conceived in my post !! (blush!)

The green glass beads on this necklace are also from Southern Vietnam but may have originated in China. These beads are young when compared to the jade ring, only at most 500-200 years ago. The emerald green beads contrast well with the lustrous white jade.

Large White Jade Ornament

Talking about "exquisiteness" in previous post, here is one exquisite white jade flower. Carved in multi layers with the petals opening out it is quite the acme of beauty ! This type of shape, cut and design according to the Chinese literature is obviously (kai men jian shan) of Ming vintage. Its rather large size at 4cm seem to indicate that it is not a button despite the 2 openings at the centre. Possibly a lady's hair ornament with the metal fitting or cord passing through the centre openings. It is not a perfect piece though as there is some wear on the surface but it is quite pefect for me !

For comparison, below at left is a 21st century interpretation and copy of the old form. This modern chunky jade flower is mostly used as a choker with cord for attachement passing through the centre perforation. I have seen such choker
necklaces being sold in stores and pushcarts all around town. It is rather heavy and I have adapted it for use as a burner for incense cones (see pic on right)

Jade Flowers or Yu Hua

The white nephrite jade flowers  I show today are among my favourites and hail from Shanxi Province China. Because of their rather large size I conjecture that they may have been used as hair accessories rather than as buttons and date from about the Ming to Qing period. Some gorgeous examples of antique hairpins may be seen in the tv series Story of Yanxi  Palace set in the era of the emperor Qianlong. But my flowers are a bit more modest 😇

The first flower  has six petals and a central corona and one pierced hole

6 petal rosette with central corona

The next flower has more elaborately decorated petals and a double hole in the centre. 

Petals are elaborate

Next to be shown is a multi  scalloped mutton white piece with double holes on the reverse.

Mutton white jade flower

Rounding up are 6 smaller jade flowers in various shapes and designs. All are from Ming-Qing dynasty.

Smaller jade flowers

Carnelian, glass and crystal bracelet

Chilly, raspberry and ice these are some of my favourite things! No, I'm not talking about ingredients for a recipe but about the colors of my beads.The flat large hexagonal carnelian bead is chilly red while the smaller round beads are raspberry red. The 2 crystals give a nice icy contrast. So, chilly, raspberry and ice !
Got all these beads from varous parts of Vietnam.
Guess the flat carnelian and faceted crystal beads are ancient while the raspberry red round beads are only a few centuries old. The surface of the carnelian is worn with pits. To some critics this may be "rough" but to an addict like me its only just one of its "exquisite" charms !!

Box of Vintage Glass & Stone Buttons

According to bead terminology a button is also a bead, hence this set of buttons is included in this bead blog.

Their vintage is about 70-100 plus years old, all originating in China. The buttons are of coral, glass, agate and stone. I am wondering what kind of garments would take such buttons ? An old style Qing jacket or a high neck cheongsam of the 1920s? Would the material be silk, chiffon or cotton ? I do wish there are more research material around for the study of such vintage buttons.

After writing the above I have been struck by the thought that these may not be buttons at all ! Perhaps they're pendants or hair ornaments. They may have dangled at the end of a hairpin. Well, a lot of collecting is about guessmate isnt't it ?? And until the day I find a picture of these button-like items in their original state of use, I won't be able to pinpoint their exact identity.

Mystery Jade Face

This mystery jade face was partly inspired by the Mystery Men Exhibition, a travelling exhibition on the Sanxindui Excavations on the lost bronze age civilization of China. I was so impressed by the fascinating faces and gold masks on Mystery Men's face that I came up with this mystery jade face and hope it looks just as mysterious !

As this picture was composed shortly after the dark days of my recent eye operations and so maybe I should name this piece , "Light of my Eyes" ! However Hans commented that the face looked a tad sad. On reflection, I have to agree that my post operation blues must have influenced it. And so perhaps it should really be called "Face of Depression"! Whatever... this face will be commemorative of that bleak time !

Well, after winning a small prize in the Mystery Men contest, along came a friend who said the title of this post should be Mystery Woman from Xinjiapo !
That's pretty appropriate and she makes a good companion to the Mystery Men !

Etched Carnelian Beads Bracelet

Another favourite bracelet, this time made of etched carnelian beads mostly from Burma. Locals here call these beads "xian zhu" or fairy beads and they are believed to be related to "tian zhu" or heavenly beads, which Westerners and Tibetans call "dZi". These beads are at least a few hundred to a thousand years old. The red spacer beads are made of old glass from Vietnam. All the beads were purchased separately and I had to wait a long time to put together this bracelet. As I was still short, I have included one plain faceted carnelian and one black banded agate to make up the whole piece. This bracelet composed in 2005.

Xizhou Glass and Faience Beads Bracelet

This is one of my favourite bracelets, made up of ancient glass and faience beads from China's Xizhou Dynasty (1027-771 BC) Beads are cylindrical as well as biconical shape with small white disc shell beads. Teal colour some nearer to turquoise colour. The cylindrical beads are of faience while the biconicals are of glass. 2 of the biconical beads have undergone a "sea change" with the blue turning whitish, possibly as a result of decomposition of the glass due to long burial.

Beads purchased as a longer strand from Sichuan province and broken up into various projects. These over 2000 year old beads, really give me a pang ! I hardly dare to use this bracelet as it is so fragile and breakable. Hmmm....perhaps the biconical beads would be better as a earring dangle ! On second thoughts, maybe not such a good idea as it would mean putting wire and hooks through these lovely and brittle beads.

Jade Flower Hairpin

This little jade flower on the left was originally

a hairpin. The centre inset of brass and jade

extends into the back as a pin holder but the

pin has long since gone missing. With help

from Heng who replaced the missing pin

with a metal clip, the jade piece has regained

its orignal use as a hair accessory, see picture

on right. Vintage: Ming -Qing Period. I got this

piece for a song from the local flea market.

Venetian Glass Beads Bracelets

Two bracelets made up of Venetian glass beads

from Indonesia. Vintage of beads about 100-300

years old. Wherever possible I love to wear my old

glass beads and these cool beads fitted very nicely

into bracelets for present day wear.

Crinoid Stem Beads from the Paleozoic Era

"Crinoid stem beads were amongst the more common animals found in the sea floor communities of the Paleozoic era about 543 to 248 million years ago" Description taken from Bead data base with thanks. I suppose a layman like me would call them fossil beads from the remains of sea animals millions of years ago. My strand came from Cambodia and was a gift from Hans. Grey in color and barrel shaped they have a natural hole in the middle for stringing and the outer surface has natural ribbed decorations. They are rather sandy with mineral encrustations, and after 2 years, I am still mulling over how best to use them in my works.

A Set of White Nephrite Jade

This set of small white yu pian (flat jade pieces) probably date back to the Ming period. Very delicately carved and pierced, some pieces still retain a bright luster. The set is made up of flower vases, ruyi, petal, lion, bamboo and a basket. Don't know what the original uses were. Could have been used as inlays for boxes, cupboards and the like.

Carnelian Butterfly Pendants

According to bead terminology, a pierced pendant is also a bead. And that is why these four pendants have been included in this blog. Made from carnelian (or ma nao, in Chinese) these four beautiful butterflies date from the Qing Dynasty and make lovely accessories.

GRANDMA' S HEADWARMER

In old China old ladies wear decorated head bands around their foreheads to keep out the chill. I think there must be a belief then, that the female forehead is vulnerable to chills especially among the old. So it is customary for old ladies to sport some head band. These old ladies must have been a fashionable lot too, as the headbands from that era are not just plain functional pieces but are fine embroidered pieces and some with jade pieces as added embellishments.

I purchased this old embroidered headband from a garage sale and have sewed some of my small jade ornaments on it to recreate a piece that might have been in vogue about 50-100 years ago.

NEPHRITE JADE LEAVES FROM SHANTOU

This pair of dark green jade leaves was bought in a tourist village in Shantou.

Bet they must have formed part of an elaborate ladies' hair piece from the late Qing. Or could they have been a pair of early 20th century earrings ?

CARNELIAN BUTTON ON A SILK CORD

This bright red carnelian , sometimes also called a button, was probably a hat ornament and maybe 60-100 years old. It has 2 pierced holes at the side for attachement with scallop edges and a carving that looks like a prawn (?) surrounded by a round border.

I bought it from some junk dealer. Thank goodness there are junkyard sales around to feed the collecting instincts of collectors like me who cannot always afford the premium collectibles.

Tied to a silk cord it now has a new life as a choker necklace.

Silk cord and pouch from Helens shop

Jade Decorated T-Shirts

I love to wear these modern togs with olden jade decorations, although I seldom get the response I want, such as some compliments, please. Instead I get bland comments like, hey, how you wash them ? or what you gonna do when they get old ? Well, heck,the answers are I thought quite obvious - put them in a nylon washing bag and put them in the machine and as for shirts growing old, of course I would do what I always do that is recycle these precious jade pieces by putting them on to another T. Well a secret I'd like to share is the durability of jade. These pieces of mine have lasted if not a century then at least 50-80 years, as jade is one of the most indestructable stones and can stand a wash or scrub without mishap.
The initiated should also look at them mircoscopically through a loupe. Although tiny they have been patiently shaped and carved each one a unique piece depicting flower basket, insects or some traditional motif. The modern miss may decorate their clothes with sequins, crystals or rhinestones, but I would not exchange my faded jade decorations for any of these.

A Pair of Nephrite Jade Phoenixes

A pair of phoenixes in celadon green nephrite. The phoenix is a mythical chinese animal with very positive associations. It is a symbol of high virtue and grace as well as the union of yin and yang. It appears in peaceful and prosperous times but hides when trouble is near. This is one regal bird ! Look at her cool glance and powerful talons. The strong and deep carving strokes on the jade seem to indicate a Ming vintage. I have wondered about its original use. Was it as some centrepiece in one of those dramatic headdresses such as seen in the TV series War and Beauty ?

Bird Bead from Java

This bead is made of dark blue glass with a pattern of a bird on one side and a sunburst design on the other. Indo-Pacific bead probably 10th-14th century AD and discovered in Java.

White Jade Owl

This is a white jade owl ornament possibly from the Shang Dynasty 16 Century BC or later.

White Jade Owl

The wings curve inwards with a hollowed out concave back that includes a central ridge incorporating 2 stringing holes,

back with central ridge & stringing holes

There is damage on the left side with alteration and iridescence in parts of the bird. The eyes are large and unblinking. Its mood is quiet and watchful, quite an arresting owl.

Quite an arresting owl

Update Sept 2019  For a similar  jade owl carving see Freer and Sackler website.

A Winter Sonata Necklace

This winter-white necklace is made up of Chinese glass beads from the Song-Yuan period (960-1368AD) It consists of small Chinese coil beads, a cone-shaped bead, a raspberry-shaped bead and a floral glass button. The strand was composed it in 2005.


 Update go to post:
 https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2010/06/chinese-glass-ornaments-1.html

Birds & Petals on a Vine of Coil Beads

This necklace is made up of Chinese blue glass coil beads and little glass ornaments consisting of blue birds and petals. Estimated age of beads and ornaments from the Liao-Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368AD). The birds and petals are made of blue glass to imitate turquoise which was a much sought after semiprecious stone in those days. I speculate that the birds and petals had originally been used as buttons or hair accessories. I composed this necklace in 2005,

Update go to post :https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2010/06/chinese-glass-ornaments-1.html

Crystal Jade

I composed this to reflect my love for jade and crystal.

Shows tiny jade frogs frolicking on a slab of crystal.

Hmmm maybe Crystal Jade Kitchen would like this for their logo !

Jade Choker Necklace

This necklace was gifted to me by my friend, Madeline. She designed it and had it custom made. It is composed of a centre piece of ancient jade, possibly dating from the Shang dynasty (1600-1027 BC) to Zhou dynasty (1027-221 BC) There is lovely patina and veins, the result of age, on the surface of the jade. The crescent-shaped jade may have originally formed part of a Bi and may also have served as a lower-side piece in a "gentleman's ancient girdle-pendant set" The 2 perforations are conical-shaped possibly made with bamboo drills. The accompanying amber and turquoise beads are new. Strung in Chinese silk cord.

Nephrite Jade

Here are 4 nephrite jade pieces in my collection dating

from the Qing-Ming periods. They make lovely pendants.