JOY TO COLLECTORS !

I am celebrating this holiday season with my beads and jade.

Only the white jade, peanut shaped earrings with amethyst chip accents were made by me. The crystal and turquoise beads necklace and crystal and pearl tennis racket pendant were finds at a craft stall.

Although the white jade earrings is really shaped as a peanut, I thought my earrings ended up looking like a yuletide log cake.

 

peanut or  yuletide log cake?

Peanut- shaped

Log Cake

3 Prong Jade Ornament

This 3 prong jade ornament was purchased in China.

It is an archaic shape and resembles the trident shaped artifacts from Neolithic periods which has been described as "San Zi" (shaped like the Chinese character "Mountain." ) Such artifacts are illustrated and described in Chinese as well as Western literature. See JADE by consultant editor Roger Keverne pages 54 and 76 for Liangzhu examples. They are said to be hair ornaments because they have been discovered near the head usually together with a jade Stick.

The Liangzhu examples in book JADE show exquisite carvings but my specimen is completely plain. The holes are also positioned differently, the Liangzhu trident has holes drilled from the top of the prongs, while in my specimen the 3 holes on the prongs and one at the circular end of the pendant are all drilled through the body of the pendant. My pendant is also thinner than the Liangzhu ones.

One side is horrendously corroded

On the obverse side the damage is not so bad.

My partial eye is again detecting some strange phenomenon on the less corroded side. Look at the ornament with the prongs facing downwards :

Do you see a sillouhuette or vague outline that is birdlike and  seems nature made?

close up view

Ha ha mayhap my imagination doth run wild (the cynic Heng says its just a blotch lah !) I just love these quirky pieces that will not make me rich except in the mind and the heart.

To conclude, this three prong piece strongly resembles an archaic artefact though I'd be hard pressed to give its definite vintage.

Below I have tried to recreate its use as a hair ornament, fitting it with Xizhou carnelian and turquoise disc beads. Could it have been tied to some ladies elegant top knot in ancient times ? Hmmmm, actually,  it reminds me of the hair dangles worn by Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean. I suppose some swinging Stone Age guy might have had the same fashion idea aeons ago :)))

Ornament  for Johnny Depp or Stone Age Guy ?

Friendship Knots for Bi Lovers

My friend Q taught me this simple and useful friendship knot

Made in contrasting colors these knotted chains are handy for attaching accessories, especially for my collection of bis.The knotted chain can be attached to any bi (or other circular accessory) by using the larks head knot.

The necklace is completed wih a flat knot so that the length can be altered according to the outfit of the day.

Here are are my favourite bi accessories marking my love for jade, knots and bis.

The Parrot and the Pussycat

the parrot and the pussy cat did not go down  to sea.....

....  instead they came to  my home and I am their happy host. Here are  the pair of visitors  from the past :))

Both are carved from crystal but hail from different periods of Chinese culture.

What a beautiful pussy you are, you are ....

This sleek Puss with the snooty expression is likely to be from the late Qing Dynasty,  around 1874-1908AD. It sits on a flat pedestal which must have originally been intended to serve as a seal. However on this piece there is no carving on the flat bottom.

....you elegant fowl.....

I think the "elegant fowl", above is a Parrot. It has a hooked beak, round eyes, curved claws and the tail ends as a stand.  The piece is  partially corroded by iron rust marks and must have been buried with iron or metal objects. Parts of the body and the tail is covered by an abstract pattern carved in deep, strong  (dao gong  you li) lines. There are very old concentric ring drill marks in the perforation at the beak. 

Many parrot pieces have been discovered in Shang excavations and the shape and bearing of this elegant fowl has the flavour of that era. So, methinks or mehopes that this is a late Shang/early Zhou dynasty, about 1200-1000BC piece.

Honey Color Cylinder Beads

I bought these honey-color, cylinder-shaped beads from a junkman in China. He could not tell me the exact vintage, just said "very old."

These cylinders have no distinguishing features other than their lovely color.

I have not seen them in any Chinese research material, and will like the junkman accept them as old. I am not even sure whether the stone is carnelian, agate or serpentine. Maybe as junkman says it should simply be called "yu"

I love their honey color and cool (literally) and smooth texture, so gorgeous to touch. Here are the cylinders tied with button knots into a necklace.

The central flat black bead has an eye decoration on it. Is the stone black onyx and how old?

On the reverse there are what look like traces of encrustation from some leather article. If this is not glued on, and it looks like not, then there is hope that this is a fairly old bead too.

Reverse view

BRAIDS AND BEADS

Here's a friendship braid with tiny glass beads made by my friend Q. It arrived just in time for my birthday altho Q doesn't know nor meant it as a birthday present. It was entirely fortuitous.

She has been teaching me braids but not quite succeeding. I dont know why all my friends from M & M to Q produce lovely crafts and I am the odd girl out. I dont have crafters' hands, here is a specimen of my "maiden braid." Some maiden, looks like I have a long way to go.

Here are more lovely braids done by Q

Close up of the braids

Thank you Q ! Take a bow ! You have brightened my dark days, meanwhile I must jia you! jia you! :))

Carnelian and Rock Crystal Necklace

I composed and made this carnelian and rock crystal necklace using button knots. Making this necklace, provided dual benefits, as I could practice tying my knots and completing it means I can wear my favourite beads.

The carnelian cylinders were purchased from a Tibetan lady in China. She couldn't  tell me the exact vintage nor origin.

This shape is sometimes referred to as "bamboo " shape by the Chinese and sometimes "bulging at the waist " shape or "yao-gu-xing". I guess Westerners would say bi-conical. I have seen bamboo-shaped cylinder carnelian beads which have been provenanced to Western Zhou - Warring States (11-3rd century BC) in Chinese books, including Roger Chow's Sparkling Splendours, but I am not saying that my beads are ancient.

Lest I be scoffed at for false/misleading comparisons, I must explain that I am not drawing these comparisons to imply that my cylinders are authentic of the Warring States era. I have not seen many examples of these cylinders in real life, nor in books, (ah, alas the narrowness of my experience) and so it was interesting for me to come across the illustrations given in the Chinese documents. No ulterior motive intended :) Besides there are many other considerations apart from a similar looking shape to justify a bead as old/ancient, let alone belong to the fabulous Warring States era ! And for all I know my beads maybe new beads, new beads made old, old beads made older, antique, vintange, plain replicas, and many other combinations.

My specimen is in good condition and the stone if ancient is still shiny, the bead hole is rather large and the bamboo wedge shape is rounded, not sharp. Roger Chow's sample is sharp and so there's the difference. The walls of the bead are rather thin when compared to the size of the perforation. How did the tubes get so hollowed out ? Is this method of stone bead making peculiar to a period or culture? So the jury is still out on this pair of cylinder beads. And meanwhile they do pique my interest.

The central rock crystal bead is truncated, biconical, and faceted. It came from Myanmar and is likely to be Pyu about 100 BC to 840 AD or later.

RECYCLING JADE 2

"Rather a fragment of jade than
a complete tile of clay...... "

was said by the fool or hero, depends on how you look at it, Jinghao of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.(534–550)

These words cost him his head, but nonetheless immortalized him, as his phrase has been quoted over centuries by outstanding Chinese men and women and all true lovers of jade. Guess I am stretching Jinghao's words a bit, rather a big bit, but it does seem a cool phrase/idiom to start a topic on recycling jade. No doubt Jinghao's words refer to the high moral quality of jade whereas my subject, by comparison is more trivial.

And here to illustrate the enduring beauty of jade, is this tiny jade fragment which has been lovingly recycled with knots, beads, another jade and cord to make a wearable necklace.

jade fragment

fragment recycled into a wearable necklace

RECYCLING JADE 1

The birds in the tree



These miniature jade birds perching on the golden tree, were previously either haipin or button adornments for upper class Qing (1644-1912) ladies.

Thanks, Sit for the drawing of the tree.

Turquoise Turtle

Turtles have such long lives. They reputedly live up to 200years. But still I daresay none can be as old as this turquoise turtle of mine which I bought several years ago in China.

Most Chinese associate turtles with longevity, but if someone (especially the Hokkien clan) calls you Black Turtle Head, it is hardly a compliment. !!

My, turtle measures 4cm. It looks like it is swimming, with the head slightly at an angle and 4 legs sticking out. Its perforated at the tail and in the hole are concentric ring tool marks. There are also many marks on both the back and front of the stone.

Are these tool marks or are the marks natural to the stone ? Are the marks ancient or modern ? Looks like I am posing more questions than describing my piece. !

The stone is also weathered with damage on the back and on one side of the head.Its shell is flat rather than dome shaped and the carapace is etched with a criss cross pattern. OK, the workmanship is not great but the eyes peeping out under the shell, look expressive. And so to the eternal question - can it be a neolithic turtle ?? Sure wish I knew the answer. But meanwhile just enjoy, :))

Hongshan style Cloud Pendant

Here is another Hongshan style pendant which was purchased together with the one in previous post.

I am not normally a collector of replicas, but this one is such an amusing, inventive adaptation of the Hongshan classic Cloud pendant, that I couldnt resist. The original Hongshan cloud pendant is normally represented by an abstract pattern. The forger/reproducer of my piece has copied the original design and added a hole in the upper left and hey presto it is a sweet little deer! This cloud pendant turned deer measures 3.6x1.9cm.

Replica or no, deers, being my best collectible friends, next to birds, bees, fishes, butterflys et al, I was more than happy to get it. Hmmm, it may also be Ming or Qing vintage, like Xuang-Lian-Bi in earlier post. Now if only I could find a good way to string this one up life would be perfect :)

Double Connection Bi

Xuang lian bi is literally translated as Double Connection Bi. It is a shape orginating from the Hongshan Culture about BC.4000–3000 BC.

My miniature double connection bi measuring 2.7cm is made in the Hongshan style. It consists of two bis which are carved from one piece of jade with the bottom bi bigger than the top bi. Genuine double connection bis from the Hongshan culture are generally larger and I am sure mine is a replica. The seller had told me quite deadpan, that "large sized Hongshan pieces can be found anywhere but a small one would be a rare find." He!He! And he expected me to swallow his tall tale!

But inspite of the story which gave me a good laugh, I still bought the piece though not at Hongshan price. After all its quite nicely made, the jade is an attractive pale green, and this delicate piece appeals to me as my normal preference is for small over big. I am also optimistic that it may be made by a Ming miniaturist after my own heart. A final advantage is that I can wear it as a pendant strung up with my personally hand knotted cord.

The shape also resembles the number 8, which for Chinese is considered lucky. So heres to "BA!" (8) aka "FA" (prosperity)

Jade Slit-tube (Jue)

This Slit-tube artefact measuring 2cm long is also a Jue.

According to a Chinese source (Chinese jadeware: picture reference dictionary p.061) slit-tube as well as slit-ring jues were in existence in the Chahai Culture, around 5000BC. However, J Rawson in " Chinese jade: from the Neolith" says that "The earliest jue, which are more like slit-tubes than slit-rings, are found in the north-east in the Xinglongwa (about 5000 BC) and Chahai cultures (about 4500 BC), which preceded the Hongshan (about 3800-2700 BC)"

Although tube-shaped jues are described as probably ear ornaments by both the Chinese source as well as J Rawson I am at a loss to see how this slit-tube can be worn on the ear without falling off. These people from the Neolithic cultures sure have baffling ornaments. !



My specimen is plain with no embellishments and I am thinking that it may belong to some early neolithic culture. Jues (both tube-shaped and planar) from the later Warring states period have elaborate decorations of dragon, bird or cloud patterns on their surfaces.

IMPO a slit-tube (jue) looks more like a bead that has been slit and a better name for it could be "slit-bead (jue)." !

There is much weathering on the slit-tube, see pix below :

"Concentric-ring tool marks" are also present in the crevice of the slit-tube.


Here is another view of the slit-tube:


Looking at the slit-tube from this angle, gives me a wild idea that the tube may be sliced into several segments to form a few flat slit-rings. Now thats another silly thought for me to chew on. Yum! :))

Mystery Guy

He is made of yellow jade showing signs of red suffusion, patinisation and cleaving veins. He has large upslanting pop-out eyes, flat nose and wide mouth. He wears a longish robe with two stumps of feet sticking out

Is he a Man from Shang or a Man from Shu? Or is he a figment of modern fakers skilful invention ? This little fella is perforated from the top of his rather flat head so he is really a bead. He must be Beadman, oops, what am I talking about, of course I mean Jademan !

There are three things that puzzle me about this piece. I find his rather flat and bare head rather strange. Most Chinese archaic jade figurines will have some sort of hat, headwear, braids or something. I think the Chinese consider the head/brains very important. However I have come across a few figurines in books with flat heads so my piece may belong to the minority.

The second thing that puzzles me is the postion of his hands, one in front and one at the back. Most archaic jade figurals that I have come across have both hands in front clasped together as in greeting or resting on the knees. My Jademan

has his right hand resting on his left arm for the front view, while at the back the left hand rests below the waist. He looks like he is in a pose of admiring the moon or composing a poem ? Figments of my own imagination :)) ?

The last puzzle is the back (see pic below) where the head is cut away and looks like the neck of a vase. Indeed the body does look not unlike the rounded part of a vase. However the fingers are carved in detail.

I have strung my Jademan with a string of very old carnelian beads. As I cant accurately pinpoint his years, I shall just say he is Mystery Guy from the Past and treat him like "..my little good luck charm...uh-huh huh, you sweet delight....." :)) He is all of 4.2cm tall.

The rounded carnelian beads have a "C" scroll pattern and maybe five hundred to a thousand years old.

Belt parts

Here are 2 white rectangular pieces I got from my friend, the connoisseur collector. She didnt want them because she thought that they were not collectible enough. Maybe she's right, who'd want these dusty rectangles ? Yeah, but I the gypsy collector just grabbed them ! I am not known as Garang Guni for nothing. Heh! Heh!

Each is pierced with six holes for attachement and the material looks like glass imitating jade but I am not sure. Perhaps it may be calcite.

In the book "Chinese Antique Glass" there are belt sets made up of components such as what I show. These examples appear in p.57, 62, 66. So it would not be too presumptious for me to think that my rectangles had once been used to make up belt sets too. The book gave timelines ranging from Tang to Ming, quite a lengthy and safe timeline, and I hope I will not be censured by glass shifus for following this guideline.

These rectangles are completely plain and unadorned so I am guessing that they maybe "grave goods" or they maybe used by less wealthy folks who could not afford jade.

Here's another belt piece which is also rectangular in shape and smaller than the above pieces. It may have been used as a "filler" or end spacer, examples of which can be seen in "Chinese Antique Glass" p.68. It is pierced on one side with two vertical holes and on the reverse side with two ox-nosed holes and the two sets of holes converge.

Ox-nosed holes

Hmm, I am wondering what manner of stringing or attachement went with such holes ? Unfortunately the long descriptive Chinese text in "Chinese Antique Glass" is beyond my comprehension. Trying to obtain information from Chinese books without knowing the language can be a handicap. It can even be a landmine which I had once upon a time fallen into. For example the author may use a Fake piece to illustrate some point he wishes to bring out, but the reader, who can't read the fine print unwittingly sees it as a real Mccoy. Ha Ha Ha !! Well, I have finally mastered the word for FAKE (FANG)in Chinese and its a word I am not likely to ever forget. Ahhh.. I am just dreaming that in an alternate life, or if there is a third dimension, I can cross over (as in "Hard Boiled Wonderland" ) to be an archaeologist or a Chinese interpreter? :))

3 Faces Bead

This face bead/pendant was first posted on July 20th 2008. https://baiyu-quietmuse.blogspot.com/2008/07/face-bead-3.html

I have only just discovered that this is in fact a 3 faces bead (3 faces of Eve?) After reading Chinese Jades through the Wei Dynasty by Alfred Salmony p.107 and seeing a similar (but not IDENTICAL) piece, I realised that the central human face is sandwiched by 2 tiger heads at each end. Look at the bead vertically and you will see what I mean :

And how foolish of me not to detect it. I had not looked hard enough and had thought the tiger heads were some trellis border (blush !)

There are three differences between my face bead/pendant and the one shown in Salmony's book.

1. My pendant is pierced at one end only while Salmony's is pierced at both ends.

2. My pendant is flat with identical carvings on both sides while the book example has a plain concave back.

3. The carving on my pendant is less stylised and dramatic than the book example.

Bearing all these differences in mind can my face pendant claim relationship and similar vintage, ie middle Zhou around 1027-771 BC ? Well, vintage considerations aside, it is still a real neat bead/pendant that intrigues.

And so my inscrutable "tygers" were you shaped by some "immortal hand or eye"? :))


 Update 2019 : A similar shape ornament/face pendant posted on Freer and Sackler Museums website