Sunday, January 10, 2016

A Handful of Jade Rosettes


These  whimsical little jade rosettes also called yu-hua or jade flowers, date  from  late Qing (19th to about early 20th century)



Antique yu-hua
 
Although the rosettes are made from thin and small pieces of jade they are well shaped with attention to detail. The 12 flower blossoms are carved as rosettes with 5 petals radiating from a raised centre which incorporates  a hole. As all the pieces have only one central perforation I suspect these are likely to be hairpin components rather than buttons. 
 
likely to be hairpin components
 
Here's a circular arrangement  of 8 flowers see picture below
 
 
Circular arrangement of 8 rosettes 

 Four of the jade flowers have rounded concave petals  which have been painstakingly carved to give a scoop or tea spoon like appearance.
 
 
each petal resembles a scoop

  The largest yu-hua measures 1.4cm and the smallest 0.9cm
 
 
Largest and smallest of the floweres
 
There are 5 delicate protrusions at the petal's edge of the next flower which measures all of 1.3 cm
 
  
Spiked at the edge with delicate protrusions
 
It's a delight to hold these century old, tender jade blossoms in the palm of my hand.
 
A handful of jade flowers





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  • Theft : a love story
  • The Uncommon Reader
  • The Silent Patient
  • Never Let me go
  • Angela's Angels
  • Where angels fear to tread