White Jade Square

This flat white jade square with 4 holes was purchased on one of my China trips. This piece may have formed part of a jade belt or it could be a Pei. A jade pei is a pendant used in ancient times as a decorative ornament , stitched with silk threads to other items to form a belt or chateline.

The color is greyish white with low relief carving showing a pattern of interlocking long "S" scrolls and short "C" scrolls and the same pattern is repeated on both sides. There are small patches of white calcification on the surface and this whitening appears on both sides which maybe evidence of antiquity.These aging marks make me optimistic(though not postive) that my jade square may at least be Ming if not Han.

Using snake knots and Pyu green glass beads, I converted this last ramnant of an ancient jade belt or pei into a unique pendant necklace with a long history.

Spring and Autumn Necklace

I purchased these 3 long cylindrical crystal beads from China. The seller had said Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BC) which makes them 2773 years old. From my experience Chinese sellers like to attribute anything crystal to either Spring and Autumn or Warring States Period and sometimes Liao Dynasty. I dont know the real reason for this penchant but my guess is that there must have been many excavations of crystal beads and artefacts from tombs of these periods.

Incidentally, I have also come across a magazine article in Cultulral relics world no6, 2007 featuring excavations from Zhejiang Province which showed a whole pile of crystal cylinder-shaped beads which were provenanced to Spring and Autumn - Warring State period. So based on this flimsy evidence the date for my long crystal beads may be considered acceptable ? Sound like a 1/2 past six theory, even to my own ears, but this is the best case I can make out for it :))

The beads measure from 3.5-4 cm, are drilled from both sides and drill marks are evident in the perforations. The shape is simple and elegant and the surface is quite pristine without much weathering except at the ends.



There is something about ancient crystals which make me go gaga, although I am not really into new age beliefs, I guess they do have some kind of attractive energy. My knotting fervor has by no means abated and so I worked out this design of button and roll knots incorporating one of the long crystal bead in the centre flanked by smaller white ancient glass beads from Vietnam.


O well, genuine or not Spring & Autumn Necklace is a lovely name for my long crystal bead necklace. It feels very special and I shall have joy wearing it.