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 !!