An Ornament from the Past

 
         the le le

These little odd shaped beads ( should I call them beads because they have perforations ?) had me wondering for sometime about their origin and use. I had bought them from a seller who could only say "le le" by way of description and as I am not fluent in Chinese,  I was none the wiser. I did try the bi-lingual dictionaries but got not much help. For all I know he may be having me on !

6 funnel-shaped jade objects called Le le

The six dark color nephrite stones narrow from the middle with the bottom wider than the top, may be described as trumpet-shaped or funnel-shaped. Measuring around 2 cm, each piece is drilled from top to bottom and  the holes are small.  None of the pieces are  of the same height or size and each "le le" is partially covered with patina of age. The le les  are entirely plain with no surface decorations or carvings.

Here is a picture showing the bottom ends and looked at from this angle their shapes are reminiscent of the supertrees in our Garden by the Bay Park or even ancient toadstools from a jurassic park :)

 

bottoms up they look like ancient toadstools or supertrees!

Supertrees, Garden by the Bay Park

To learn more about their source and origin I searched through many publications on early jade and found some useful references and illustrations. In Roger Chow's book Sparkling Splendours there are similar funnel shaped objects in crystal and agate form. He has described them as ear ornaments and attributed them to Han dynasty(206 BC – 220 AD) On the other hand, in Jessica Rawson's Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing similar shaped  jade beads  were dated to Dong Zhou-Han dynasty (5th-2nd century BC)

However Rawson's examples are more than thrice the size and have elaborate carvings and large holes.   Size and decoration wise my le les (small size, plain and small holes) are more in keeping with the crystal and agate samples shown in Sparkling Splendors by Roger Chow. So I am more inclined to  to think they are ear ornaments dating from that period (Han)

As ear ornaments I guess they could have been set with gold and pearls, or strung with silk threads and the hole facilitates  attachment to the ear. Perhaps they were worn as dangle earrings  like the one I tried to recreate below ?

le le as earring

 

A le can also be used as a pei or accessory to be strung up with other beads/ornaments  to form a pectoral (chatelaine).I don't have enough ancient components to form a dramatic pectoral such as those shown in books. But here is my shot at making a mini pectoral, consisting of funnel shaped les, xizhou carnelian discs, one silkworm and one very old pearl bead.

 

mini pectoral

 

They also look nice strung with white calcite discs as a contrast.







strimg with carnelian and white calcite discs



Although  my les have no provenance I'll let the pieces speak for themselves :)

*Postscript:
Just got hold of the book Lazurite : a journey into ancient China. According to the book ear ornaments called er dang were fashionable with ladies of the Han era. These er dang were made in glass and were funnel shaped. The book shows many examples of these er dang or ear ornaments which have been attributed to Warring States and Han dynasty excavations.
 



SIMPLY DAZZLING ......

...to hold and behold


Here is a treasured necklace, composed of 16 old rock crystal beads and one quartz elephant bead. The crystal  beads remind me of ice while the quaint elephant has a touch of the evergreen.



Crystal on the rocks

 

These faceted rock crystals have weathered well through the centuries, retaining a genteel sparkle. The perforations drilled from both sides can be clearly seen through the translucent crystal.

translucent and brilliant



crystals close up

The centrepiece of the necklace is a quartz elephant from Myanmar's Pyu Dynasty 167-1044 AD.  It is zoomorphic in appearance and such elephants can be found in Pyu's repertoire of stone carvings. This one has been damaged and repaired. A close up of the elephant showing its repaired head and parts of the body can be seen below

Quartz elephant from Pyu dynasty

The crystal beads were sold as Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) by a China dealer but its hard to determine the exact vintage. Meanwhile it's still a lovely strand to hold and behold.



...to hold and behold...

 

LUNAR NEW YEAR OF THE SNAKE 2013

 

 

 

 

To greet Chun jie 2013 I composed this little jade snake picture from my cache of flat jade plaques. The head has a carving of a heron while the body is made up of the auspicious characters Fu meaning blessings. The tail is of a fruit with leaves.

Madam White Snake and Her aide Little Green Snake is also here to welcomes Lunar New Year of the Snake !

 



A pair of charmers



There are not many  snake objects in my collection but I did manage to turn up this charming pair. White snake on the left measures 3.5cm by 2 cm while the little curled up bundle on right measures 2cm by 0.9cm.

As the reverse of both jades have the prosperity symbol of a coin, they must have been made for lunar new year purpose.



green snake has the prosperity symbol of a carved coin on the back of its head.

prosperity coin symbol scratched on the reverse of white snake

Butterflies and flowers are also emblems of good luck for the new year as shown in my next jade picture.

 

 

Its New Year's Eve 2013, and life is great again ! May the  charming         2 0 1 3   S n a k e    slither in with blessings of health and happiness and most importantly, bring me Yu x2 ! Yu  as in abundance and Yu as in jade :)

ART IMITATES NATURE

Here are 2  tiny jade sculptures measuring about 1.5cm and 1.8cm each.   They look like fruits but what fruit is represented by their odd shape ?

Exotic jade fruit carving

According to a jade enthusiast friend, they are called "Buddha hands" after the exotic fruit  Citrus medica var sarcodactylis  or fingered citron.
 
To settle my curoisity I googled Buddha Hands fruit and found that such fruit hands are described as ...

  "  In China the Buddha’s Hand citron symbolizes happiness and long life, because its name, “fo-shou”, has those meanings when written with other characters. Chinese like to carry the fruit in their hands, place it on tables in their homes, and present it as a sacrificial offering at temple altars......
the Buddha’s Hand fruit was important by the 10th century A.D. in Fujian. Chinese artists classically depicted the fruit in jade and ivory carvings, in prints, and on lacquered wood panels "

With my interest piqued I tracked down this interesting fruit at our local market. Here is a picture of  one variety of the fruit.

Buddha Hands fruits, the Indonesian variety



large fruits and mini imitations in jade

 

Art imitates nature, so cute:)

 

These  hands with the fingers closed are somewhat different from those described in my earlier post  Beautiful Hands . But both are known as Buddha hands.

 

 I guess Hands is a much explored object in art.

 

 

BEADS OR PEBBLES ?

Are these are beads or pebbles.? Their unformed shape resembles little pebbles but they have holes drilled in them so they can be strung up as beads.  So are these Pebbly beads or beady pebbles?

Pebbly Beads or Beady Pebbles

These stones (agates) have a smooth texture with  a sprinkle of silvery  patina.

There is an hidden eye in this pebble/bead

Hidden Eye

If you look hard and deep with a loupe you can see the remains of wavy bands




Wavy Bands

Dropped Eye

The eye seemed to have dropped out from this piece revealing the quartzy interior.

Aren't  agates be they beads or pebbles just intriguing ?

Queer Fish

This brown fish is, um a    bird !

looks like a fish

Picked up among the riff-raff of a flea market in China it is a tantalising piece of jade. My first impression was that it resembled a fish lying on its belly. I can even see fins and the scales.

But turn the fish upside down and hey presto it becomes a    bird !

looks like a bird

What looked like fins are now the feet. Just love these trick pieces :))

Is it ancient ?The stone is weathered and old. The piece looks handcarved. The obverse is almost completely corroded but traces of the original carving which is identical to the good side can still be seen.

Corroded side



Flat animal carvings like my fish/bird are often assigned to  the Shang-Zhou dynasty (1600-256BC) While this piece feels somewhat archaic, there is also something suspicious about the carving style. What is that eye-looking motif doing in the bird's wing ? The normal pattern should end with a 'C' scroll. Here it looks more like an eye from a Picasso painting ! What a mixmatch of styles, shapes, and periods. It could be some form of hybrid  art.

Wrong Eye!

Modern Art ?

Is this neolithic art, mordern art or forgers art. Well  interpretation may well be in the Eyes of the Beholder :))  Meanwhile this inexpensive piece has given me much thoughts to ponder.

Mercedes Benz Logo on Ancient Quartz Bead

The heading for this post sounds like some sensational web blast. But take a look at this bead and you will be struck by the resemblance to the famous logo.

Round crystal bead with  y-shaped perforations

This flat, round quartz/crystal bead with perforations arranged like a Y, looks like an imitation of  Benz logo, or is it the other way round ? Did archaic men have the same ideas as modern logo designers ? Hmmm, is it some time tunnel or thought transference thing that inspired  the look-alike :))  Measuring 2.5 cm the  translucency also shows off the perforations beautifully.

Purchased in China from one of the numerous road side stalls the ancient authenticity cannot be guaranteed. But here are some signs to consider. The bead is bevelled around the circular sides. Actually I am not sure whether bevelling is a sign of authenticity ! There are well defined ring tool marks in the perforations. Again it is hard to judge between ancient and modern tool marks.

Similar beads can be seen in Sparkling Splendours by Roger Chow p.125-126. and dating  them to Warring States period 475-221BC. I have also come across a similar specimen  on the net taken from China's Hubei museum which dates it also to Warring States.

However I was disappointed to learn that such beads have also been seen in the Panjiayuan Market scattered among other fakes. 

No doubt all the points for or against ancient authenticity that I have raised are subjective. But it is still a neat and intriguing bead and I have no regrets purchasing it. Now if only Benz would pay 3 mil for this ancient relic of their logo.  Ah, but dream on....:)

I tried hard to make a unique necklace out of this unique bead but could only come up with this pretty lame piece.

 unique or lame?  - make a vote

This crystal bead also comes with x-shaped perforations. Again examples of such beads can be seen in Roger Chow's Sparkling Splendours.

perforations form the letter x

I wonder whether there is any special purpose for these x and y shaped perforations. What was the original stringing like ? They could also have been used as cowries.

Mystery Beads

Another Dragon for Dragon Year 2012

I had forgotten all about this seal which I had purchased in Phnom  Penh some years back. So glad I rediscovered it in time for the lunar new year because it features a dragon made of quartz crystal.

 Although this is not a Chinese dragon but a Khmer dragon I still think it is appropriate for this Lunar New Year season. In Khmer mythology a dragon is known as Naga or Neak.

What a cool dragon or or should I say  dragoness.....is she the Princess dragon of Khmer mythology........?

LITTLE HIDDEN DRAGON

I am ringing in Lunar New Year 2012 with this tiny jade dragon. This is no ferocious fire spitting dragon. He is quiet and mysterious - he must be Hidden Dragon :))

Measuring 3.5 cm x 0.8cm it is indeed a tiny dragon you may also call it  Kid dragon :))  Made from a thin slab of yellow jade its zoomorphic appearance seems to   indicate a very early birth. It may even be considered a Shang or Zhou hopeful ( 13th-10th centuryBC). Here's the reverse view of hidden, kid dragon

Look at it from upside down, and its still the auspicious dragon that I so love !

I had it attached to a Chinese silk cord and it is all ready to wear and greet the new year.

And here is an illuminated view of jade dragon

O Hidden Kid Dragon my wish is for Health and Happiness to All this Lunar New Year !

JADE JUE EAR ORNAMENTS

This is a pair of tiny jade jue ear ornaments I bought in China. Perhaps they are not even a matched pair as one is slightly larger than the other.

There is a piece of old quartz trapped/lodged in between the opening of the larger jue

According to one net source, this maybe a ploy employed by fakers to trick buyers into believing the antiquity of the object. The source also described a sure proof way to test whether the quartz was placed there by an ingenious forger. To try out the test I got myself a sharp tooth pick and pried at the quartz with all my strength. As it did not give way, it might have been glued on very securely or else it is genuinely ancient. Still I guess if I use a sharp blade and work at it it just might give way. Meanwhile I am quite pleased with my ancient quartz stuck in my ancient jade jue.

What Id like to know is did nature place quartz and jade jue together and they bound  through the course of time or was the quartz used for polishing/grinding and got left behind ? Another thought that struck me, is that the placement of the quartz actually makes a convenient loop for attachment as earring.

Most jues are larger and I cant account for the smallness of this pair which measures 1.7cm for the larger and 1.5cm for the smaller. If ancient they could date to around Shang/Xizhou dynasty (1600-221 BC)

Because of its small size,  I do suspect that this pair may have been recarved from a larger piece of  broken ancient jade. However all the edges appear worn and indicate that there is some age to  them.

Finallly here is a pic of 7  jues which were collected from Vietnam

The two jues at the bottom right are made of glass and not jade. These Vietnamese jues have a later date than the Chinese ones.

I LOVE COLLECTING....

Jade birds.......

From neolithic times to the present day, birds in their infinite variety and plumage have been carved on jade. These captivating jade birds have also caught my eye and in this post I will be showing a selection of favourites from my collection.

The nephrite birds in pic 1-3 are from Qing to early 20th century 

Pic 1  3 nephrite birds carved in semi circular style.

Pic 2 Pair of cranes in white nephrite

Measuring 6cm this pair of tall cranes could not have been hat or hair adornments. Perhaps they were originally used as inlays for furniture, boxes or screens.

Pic 3   A flock of  nephrite birds

The nephrite birds in Pic 3 are small flat pieces which have served a variety of uses from hairpins, headgear  to  hat and garment ornamentation.

The jadite birds in Pic 4-5 are of more recent origin and were probably meant to be used as pendants.

Pic 4 these look like turkeys.

Pic 5 Another large turkey

Pic 6  Pigeon or Doves ?

The jadite pigeon or doves in Pic 6 are jade applique sewn on to clothes.

Pic 7 Jadite bird among foliage

Here's a large heavy 5.5cm jadite pendant which is carved on both sides. One side shows a perky bird among foliage while the reverse depicts a chinese coin. It must have once graced the neck of some grand chinese dame.

Pic 8  Carved on both sides with reverse showing a coin

Pic9    Mini 2cm jade plaque with bird engraving

Pity this jade plaque in Pic 9 is a standalone. If I had a few more pieces I could make a pretty bracelet.

Pic  10 Large bird and little chick

The large bird in pic 10 is likely to be from Qing to early 20th century while little chick is a modern bird bead. Such new bird beads can be found in large quantity in the Guangzhou jade  market, shown below.

Pic11         New jade at Guangzhou jade market

Pic 12   More jade at jade market

Pic 13  Trio of old birds

I really love this trio of old birds in Pic13. These sweeties  have a solemn, dignified bearing and look like they have stepped out of the archaic age.  I'm going to make a wild guess that they maybe as early as Han time. Hah ! That's what I am secretly hoping :)  As a bonus they are also beads being perforated from crown to base.

Pic14    these 2 are modern

Pic 15  Pair of love birds from the Qing dynasty

And finally here's a pair of love birds from Qing dynasty which are also beads.