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.