Our 6th Annual Jade Show will be held this year inside the Main Exhibition Hall of the Tucson Convention Center at the Tucson Gem And Mineral Show – The Worlds Largest & Most Prestigious Gem & Mineral Show – February 9th – 12th, 2012. The first year into the show (the previous four years the show was held in our old gallery and was attended by some of the Top Museums in the World) we had, by the show’s by-laws, to be in the Arena section and for us to be voted into the main Exhibition Hall in the center of the Main Show, by some of the Top Geologists and Mineralogists in the World, we feel is quite an honor. Also, by being given a twice as large space we fully intend to put on a marvelous show of “Jade Through The Ages”.
Peter Shilling’s Mughal-Style thinness Sea Shell Form (Please note Peter’s Taking Form Jade card showing through the white jade). Peter has reached ‘Master’ Status with this breath-taking work of original art. Jade is not metal, and even being the “toughest” of stones, to reach this level of quality and still hold the nephrite jade together is a phenomenal achievement, and this ‘Masterpiece’ is on par with the finest jade work ever performed.
Of particular note: our 6th Annual Jade Through The Ages Dinner will be held the evening of February 7th at China Phoenix Restaurant located on the southeast corner of Ina & Oracle Roads, at 7090 North Oracle Road #172 in Tucson, AZ. Dinner will be between 6pm and 10pm. No formal speeches – just a grand get-together of Jade Artists, Aficionados, Geologists, and some of the Top Mine Owners in the world. No Reservations Required – Casual Dress.
The image you see above was just completed by Georg Schmerholz on February 1, 2012 and will have its initial unveiling the night of our annual dinner – before the show starts on the 9th – as described above. We do not, as yet, know the type of jade, nor have we seen the image in all its glory. So, if you want to be one of the first in the world to see this magnificent sculpture being unveiled, please attend the dinner at the China Phoenix Restaurant on the night of February 7th, 2012.
After the official unveiling, at our 6th annual dinner, the two photos above show the mastery of Georg Schmerholz in his exquisite sculpture titled “Seer”, which received a hearty round of applause. The face is carved out of Mt. Ogden nephrite, and the headdress is made of a patinated bronze which, even up close, resembles the natural rind of degraded nephrite. At the show itself, all the artists’ pieces shined to the crowds, and we thank every buyer for their patronage of the arts, and the offers to represent some of the artists’ works as far away as established galleries in Beijing.
Georg Schmerholz of Jade Fine Art - “Predator” – A ‘Master’ carver of all stone materials, Georg’s White Shark, swimming through what appears to be coral, is made of the stone you see in the first two pictures above. At over 15″ long, it is a true masterpiece of what an artist can accomplish using fractured and degraded jade from Kirk Makepeace’s (of Jade Mine) – Kutcho Mine. Similar to the ancient jade artists of the Han Dynasty in China, Georg realizes not all jade needs to be perfect to bring out ‘perfection’ in a one-of-a-kind creation, and that quite literally, the opposite is true. To be able to work this type of Jade from the depths of its color, through to the perfection one finds in the ’perilously’ thin edges of the shark’s fins (including such features as the bite marks one finds on a live White Shark) is the work of a ‘Genius’ in Jade. What appears to be coral is actually a calcite stalagmite from the caves of the Yangze River in China, removed before the filling of the Three Gorges Dam flooded the cave.
Due to the limited space we had at last year’s show, we had only this one 6′ X 6′ glass display case. This year we will be filling Three Cases with 100% Authentic Jade Artifacts and some magnificent ‘accent pieces’. Still, on the top shelf alone in the case above, are four Han Dynasty White Jade Imperial Vessels, a Han Dynasty White and Celadon Jade Pei with Chook Bone, a Han Dynasty green and white degraded Jade recumbent horse, and a massive Imperial Han Dynasty White Jade Rhinoceros, with a baby on its back, carved ‘in the round’. Many of the other pieces in the photo above have been featured in our Timeless Jade & Timeless Artifact articles. We will present even larger pictures and more spectacular pieces of Jade with some additional microscopic photos as we progress further in this article on this year’s show.
One of the ‘hits’ of this year’s show will the above 21-1/2″ Han Dynasty unguent vessel – made of four pieces of the same boulder of Grey and Mutton Fat White Khotan Nephrite Jade. Across the front of the white mutton fat area, one can still see, and easily feel (even though this vessel was hand re-polished in the 1700 – 1800′s), the remnants of ancient tree-root-tracks that had ‘eaten away the jade’ from living on it for so long. The tree roots even ‘ate out’ the coloring of the mutton fat white and left the area just underneath much more translucent. It is in each of the lines you see above where the grooves of the ancient degradation are to be felt. This vessel is the single largest Han Dynasty vessel to have ever been shown (as it has at our past shows) in any museum or private collection exhibit, of which we are aware. We will also be showing The Largest Jade Vessel known to have ever been built, in a 24″ high, massive Yuan Dynasty Green Jade Vessel which was originally broken completely in half (lid, main vessel and foot). We believe the dating is correct stylistically in the massive Dragon Motifs on the sides, and the obvious, original burial degradation, but there are no comparisons we have ever seen. While it has been repaired long ago, the ‘presence’ of this massive vessel will take one’s breath away. We sincerely hope one of the Chinese ‘Masters’ will come to this year’s show, along with any Chinese Official Representatives, as we have always wished them to come and share, and join us, both in putting on the show, and also in the exchange of knowledge. Many great Jade Experts and Mineralogists have viewed large portions of our collection and those we represent, quite a few of which were first owned by us and acquired from old Chinese collections years ago, while others are a compilation of years of acquisition and a mutually united goal of seeing the finest items being shown, to be acquired by one of the great museums in China or America. All items to be shown are Pre-UNESCO Treaty Legal, and all National and International laws are in place to either return them home safely, or help build an existing museum’s collection. To view these massive vessels, one must show up, as we will be displaying many others not represented here in photographs, for security reasons.
Georg Schmerholz’s new signature line of pendants, made from Fossilized Ivory, Silver and Jades of differing colors from around the globe (three are featured above). The varying differences in materials not only lend themselves to being works of art and effective accessories for casual or elegant dress, but are each individual achievements of a master’s art of effectively combining three totally different materials, each with amazingly dissimilar hardnesses, into flowing works of art. The top pendant is made with “Polar Jade”, the second is Californian Black nephrite, and the final one is White Siberian Nephrite with a Brown Rind and manganese dendritic inclusions.
This massive Han Dynasty White and Russet Jade vessel, from our collection will also be on display during the Gem Show. This vessel has been re-polished and has old repairs to the inside bottom and upper portion of the foot-rim, where it meets the bottom. Either the vessel degraded through in this area, or it was abraded away during the re-polishing effort, is not known, as the lacquer glue still covers the repaired portion. The deepest natural degradation to the vessel is in the russet areas, which penetrate all the way through the walls, due to the higher iron content in these areas. Just a bit of the original green, iron colored area, remains on the finial dragon of the lid. With the Fenghuangs on the bottom, the Air Dragons on the top of the main vessel and the bi-furcated tail of the Dragon on the lid, this vessel is an absolutely stunning masterpiece of ancient Han Dynastic workmanship in what was once translucent, mutton fat and extremely rare mixture of mutton fat and celadon jade.
In the uppermost photograph above, you are seeing a large Late Eastern Zhou, light grey Khotan Jade vessel which is one- half of a matching set of vessels. This vessel was first restored, most likely, around the time of the Ming Dynasty, some 500-600 years ago, and reburied for an extended period of time afterwards. The line across the area, approximately 1/3rd of the vessel height from the bottom, is an old lacquer repair which was never affected by an extended soaking in acetone, and the subsequent cleaning processes that we performed (the mate to this vessel has the same type of degradation, but no such repair). In the second photo above, we are seeing at high magnification, an area where the original restorer of the vessel chose to leave a portion in its ‘in-situ’ condition. This vessel has undergone an original cleaning, along with an additional re-polish after the secondary burial, as there are two types of degradation and three types of tooling and polishing markings to be observed under microscopic conditions. The original degradation to the vessel is due to the ravages of time and elements on burial jades. Some old burial jades are almost completely re-polished, and some have areas (as seen above) in which the restorers wished to show some of the original degradation. We will be showing many different types of jade artifacts this year from 100% in-situ to various types of re-conditioning, repairs and additional coatings used to replicate age after re-tooling. Together, the two vessels will make a beautiful presentation among the ‘accent pieces’ we will be showing in our cases (photos of some of the accent pieces will be forthcoming here in the near future).
Peter Schilling’s “Crooked Beak Of Heaven” pendant, made with an unusual Blue/Black Nephrite from Wyoming. The lighter areas along the beak are older quartz pseudomorphs. Peter loves to use interesting jade specimens in his creations, and excels with this work, which draws its name from old Northwest Native American mythology and design.
With this exquisite Blue Guatemalan Jadeite pendant, Peter has shown his mastery of polishing in the old style of the ancients, using loose grit. Peter also creates mosts of his own tools to perform the demanding shapes which his pendants portray. ‘Simple but elegant’ is more the style in which he works, and he has his own following of collectors and past visitors to the shows, who own in excess of 30 of Peter’s pendants – collecting more and more of his unique styles every year.
Peter’s work on this gourd-shaped pendant, made with a rare Blue/Green Yukon Nephrite from the mine of Roger Krichbaum, show his mastery of working forms in jades that have other mineral inclusions, and with the varying flowing aspects of differing jades.
In the three photographs above, we have one of the most amazing pendants I personally have ever seen. Simple in form but amazing in technical prowess, this pendant was Peter Schilling’s – Taking Form Jade – submission to Brian Matheson’s inaugural Jade Symposium contest in which jade artists from around the world participated, a unique contest in which each contestant received an equal sized piece of jade from the same stone, and had to create their own design, execute the piece, and finish by a deadline. While there were many beautiful carvings by some of the finest Western World Masters of Jade carving, the one above is the piece I personally voted as the top piece created. The jade was supplied from the Yukon Mine of Roger Krichbaum, and while being a beautiful Green Nephrite Jade, it had some anomalies which surely made it a challenge for even the Master Carvers. The reason we chose Peter’s piece was because of the tremendous amount of work involved to create such a flowing and beautiful pendant from this highly-included and striated block of nephrite. To make this pendant, Peter had to remove approximately 80% of the surrounding material, which gave it its structural integrity. That he could hold this piece of fine jade together through the high speed grinding and multiple polishing steps, and not have the stone fracture, is to me, almost miraculous.
All Peter Schilling’s images credit Bill Kipp.
In the three photographs above, we are including an extremely rare, massive, Early Ming Dynasty Incised Celadon Bowl to our show this year as one of our ‘accent pieces’. Surrounded by exquisite jade vases, this unique bowl will make a beautiful presentation for those interested in porcelain items also. During the Ming Dynastic period, celadon had ‘fallen’ from its height in the Song and Yuan Dynasties – hence the rarity of a Ming celadon of this size. The last true Ming celadon bowl of this type that we know of being marketed, was sold at a Chinese auction over three years ago for $400,000+ US. As actual market figures have indicated, the Chinese-realized prices have gone up over $250% during this last four-year period. The bowl has all associated wear expected from a true Ming Dynasty piece, with one very small rim chip (most likely from a stand) and comes with an original receipt of purchase from Singapore in 1970, along with an old family photograph of the bowl in the family’s curio cabinet. In the second photograph above, you can see where the bowl was buried at some point in history and acquired a layer of attached ‘caleché’. This bowl, as with all items which will be shown, carries our 100% Guarantee to be ‘as described’ against ANY authority in the world in a court of law.
In the photographs above, you are looking at a Late Warring States – Early Western Han Archaic Bronze Horse from our old collection. This has been our ‘signature horse’ since we were originally located in California. The top of the head of the horse has been restored (see dark grey line), and so has the tail. The remainder of the horse is in ‘as recovered’ condition. In the last photograph above, you can see a ‘massive’, original, botryoidal malachite growth, which has grown on the area between the front right haunch of the horses and its chest.
The two mated, Late 10th – Early 11th Century Song Dynasty Junyao Brush Washers above will be on display this year as accent pieces, along with other items of archaic bronze and pottery. While the vast majority of items in our cases will be exquisite jade artifacts, ranging from the neolithic Period up to the Qing Dynastic era, we always love to show unique items, for the ambiance they help create in the cases. The two brush washers above are in perfect, non-restored condition, showing under microscopic condition amazing wear use over a long period, before they were cache-buried and later recovered. The other Tang/Song dynasty Junyao Narcissus Bowl which we showed last year will also be on display, as will another, larger, Song Narcissus Bowl with ‘purple splash’.
These two wonderful, original works of art by Master Carver Georg Schmerholtz – Jade Fine Art – will be available for viewing again this year, as they are permanent works of art which Georg shows for commission-pieces. The exquisite Dragon at the top is sized to fit his own neck, and anyone wishing such a work of wearable work must have it custom-fitted to their own neck line (or that of their lucky gift recipient). The beautiful baby’s face in the bottom photograph is similar, a truly perfect reflection of an already perfect infant. What a marvelous way to immortalize a child or grandchild’s unique photograph, with one of Georg’s custom made, life-sized portraits in the ‘Stone of Heaven’ & Bronze.
Allan Spehar’s beautiful faceted, graduated necklace was made from Yukon Nephrite Jade and took Second Place in the awards in the first annual Jade Symposium Contest as voted by the public. We will let Allan describe it best, in his own words below:
The Legacy
This necklace was made in honor of my cousin, Nicholas Spehar, who died in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. Nick was part of the United States Navy SEAL Team 5. On this rescue mission, their transport took a tragic hit by enemy fire. The week following his death, and with Nick and his family in my thoughts, I worked relentlessly to finish this necklace. It only made sense to me to dedicate this entry into the World Jade Symposium to the legacy that Nick and his comrades deserve. I took special care in every detail of this necklace from hand-drilling and shaping each bead to as perfect a graduation in size that I could make. The finished necklace is approximately 16 ¾” in length. I included an attractive necklace toggle that is made of sterling silver with some gold plating. The center front bead is approximately ½” wide and has four inlays of Paua Abalone from New Zealand. This is a beautiful piece that I am both saddened and honored to dedicate to my cousin’s memory.
Allan Spehar - Jade Diver – chose a special Yukon “Snow” Jade from the Yukon Mine of Roger Krichbaum to create the beautiful matching set of bangles that you see in the photos above. Allan’s attention to perfection in details and finish is becoming renowned amongst his peers. As you can see in his exquisite Western Black Nephrite Jade beads with Paua Abalone-shell-inlays, his workmanship is highly prized and very reminiscent to me of the beautiful Chinese inlay work in black lacquer – - only the Jade is Much – Much harder to work.
In the above three photographs, we have Two Large Eastern Zhou – Warring States Period Khotan-Hetian Jade Vessels, which have been displayed in our previous shows. During this exhibition, we will be showing more than ten large Han Dynasty Vessels and over ten Eastern Zhou Period Vessels, with the largest Zhou Period piece reaching approximately 18-1/2 inches in height. On both vessels above, you can see the original damage that is most often associated with long-term burial. The vessel in the first two photos above can be seen, down to the microscopic level, in an article we published on our – TimelessJade – web site. The remnants of the gold gilding (both original, and after secondary burial) on this vessel are quite unique for the time period, and show beautifully under microscopic examination. The damage to the vessel in the lower picture can be seen on the viewer’s right at the bottom of the vessel, on the extremely unusual, backward-facing-Dragon foot. As mentioned earlier, we will also have massive jade vessels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynastic periods as well.
Peter Schilling of Taking Form Jade just produced this beautiful, Translucent Green, Wyoming nephrite pendant. We had all seen material from Wyoming at the show last year which appeared similar to this, but was almost totally transparent. This material was said to be from that same original stone (and may well have, as jade is not homogeneous), but the ones we saw last year did not have this wonderful ‘speckled’ effect, which I believe is created by ancient pseudomorphing chromium garnets. This remarkable stone is extremely rare, and varies in its emerald coloring much the same way as do “Polar Jade” and “Cassiar Jade”. Not all jade is white, and it is in the intricate anomalies that the ancient carvers of China found such intrinsic beauty, as does Peter here, with this item. I still have a thick slab of this exquisite material for study purposes, with a large pseudomorphing garnet, and it is indeed exquisite.
In the three photographs above are two of the massive Burmese/Myanmar White Jadeite figures we exclusively represent for a private collection. We will be showing four of the nine massive figures in this year’s Tucson Gem And Mineral Show. The figures can best be viewed in their entirety at our TimelessJade.com web site, along with provenance dating before 1950. As there is currently a six-pound Guanyin being offered right now on the internet with an asking price of $10,000,000.00 US, the jadeite stone alone in the figures is worth a fortune (one of the figures weighs in excess of 32 pounds). The nine figures, most likely, represent a Chinese-Siam family’s collection from their temple cave, and were made over a period of approximately four to five hundred years. In the bottom left hand corner of our case from last year is the oldest of the grouping, and will be shown again this year. Some have been cleaned to varying degrees of the beeswax coating which has been used for thousands of years to protect and heighten the shine on almost all jade carvings. In the first photo above, we are looking at the ‘youngest’ of the figures (with 19th century dating) which received the most intensive of the cleaning efforts, to verify both the stone and the age of the tooling marks. It is almost a pure mutton fat jadeite that had undergone minor re-polishing from being degraded in a wet cave atmosphere. We can see the degradation effect more clearly here in the last picture above, in the reclining Guanyin, which is made almost entirely of ‘water’ white translucent jadeite. These figures would have been carved by Chinese artisans for the Chinese families who were highly prized by the King of Siam. This should make these pieces extremely desirable to a Chinese auction house (as just a four-kilo boulder of the white jadeite stone alone sold in excess of $19,000,000 plus, in the past two years in China). The figures will be shown along with the oldest white jadeite vase we have ever seen, showing old repairs, definitive healed fractures (which occurred after they were carved) and two ‘chip-out’ areas in which the jadeite is sending out pure crystals of material, healing itself – they look like crystal caves under the microscope. To us, these pieces should be considered no less important than other Chinese lineage, exhibition items, as in ancient times, the Chinese were the greatest travelers the world has ever known. We have been publicly advertising for years for the Chinese to come and visit with us, to effect the return of all the items, both our collection and those we represent, and we hope this will be the year they send an official retinue to our show. Otherwise, we must go in other directions.
In the three photographs above, you are looking at a Yuan Dynasty Red-Underglazed Charger in remarkable in-situ condition. This charger has been cleaned in every way we know how, to determine whether it has been restored or re-finished in any way. There are no chips, cracks or hairlines on any portion of this rarest of porcelains, and it has been studied under microscopic conditions for years. First acquired by us years ago when we were living in California (where Professor Chin of Jiangdejing first touched and authenticated the charger in 2004), we have had ample time to verify its authenticity. This charger has been looked at by three other Chinese experts on old porcelains and been declared Yuan Dynasty. It is most likely the finest barbed charger in existence, and easily equals the cobalt blue charger in the Palace Museum in Beijing. In the last photo above – taken with our Canon XSi , using Canon’s MPE 65mm F/2.8 1-5x Macro lens – the crazing to the bottom glazed drips and the adhered detritus from long-term burial can easily seen. This detritus has been adhered to the bottom for so long, it has now penetrated both the glaze and the porcelain bottom of the charger. All wear scratches on the charger are from its original period of use and from a much later, subsequent cleaning, and can be easily identified under microscopic conditions. Surrounded by no less than 100 ancient jades from the Neolithic Period to the Qing Dynasty, we believe this charger will make a beautiful presentation piece.
With this extremely rare Song Dynasty Polychrome Vessel, we will be showing another 100% in-situ vessel, with no visible repairs under microscopic conditions. This wonderful piece was acquired years ago from an old Chinese family collection in Hawaii before they decided to move back to mainland China. Fearing it would be confiscated (along with other items we acquired from the collection), they decided to sell the piece rather than take the risk. To those who propose the Chinese had no pink glazes until the late Qing Dynastic period, we would say to refine your research efforts, as undeniable examples exist in many fine Museum collections, and Song Dynasty through early Qing Dynasty polychromes showing pink glazes have been sold over the years, at all the top auction houses in the world. [We will also be showing, from this same collection, an Emerald Green Jadeite Pendant in the shape of a bronze Hu, from approximately the Kangxi Era, which we displayed at the 2007 Tucson Gem And Mineral Show - in special exhibition-only cases, along with the Smithsonian, The American Natural History Museum of New York, and others - which shows an old red lacquer repair and original red lacquer decoration. Six months after the show, replications started to show up for sale on e-commerce sites, with red clay dust as the coloring agent, and heavily waxed. We still have an example of this type of replication, and one of the only ones actually made of heavily acid-degraded jadeite, polymer impregnated - most were made of dyed quartz].
In the above three photographs, we are showing three of the smaller Yellow Nephrite artifacts we will be exhibiting this year. The top photo is a Western Zhou Dragon from a wonderful collection we represent – all represented pieces will be in our center case this year and our collection will be in the outer two cases, space permitting. The second photograph above is a yellow jade bangle from our collection, which we would consider to be a transitional Eastern Zhou item, originally made around the time of the Spring & Autumn to Warring States periods. The last photo above is of a Neolithic Period Yellow Jade Taotei Pendant; these are often erroneously called ‘combs’. In all three items, the one thing in common is the amount of detritus penetration one finds in a true archaic period yellow jade. I believe that the higher amounts of chromium (which causes nephrite to be this kind of yellow) tend to make the nephrite a bit more porous than other colors of nephrite. On the reverse side of the Taotei pendant above is an ancient tree root track with the detritus-colored penetration you can see in the brown areas. Also, Yellow Nephrite comes in many differing shades, from translucent through a mutton fat yellow. All items above have been totally cleaned of all dyes, waxes and coatings of any sort – all of which can make a newer tooling mark appear to have age (or sometimes disappear altogether), as even new water-moisture can. Note: almost all funeral jades have been re-polished at one time or another, and sometimes more than once, as would be in the case of a Zhou item being unearthed in the Ming Dynasty, re-coated and antiqued with malachite, cerrusite, azurite, and iron oxides, and reburied, and then unearthed again much later. Nephrite Jades degrade over time, unless they are constantly being re-polished by running water, such as river, creek, or tumbling ocean waves. We have even seen Khotan-Hetian Jade boulders, freshly dyed with iron rusting marks on the surface. [We intend to have our microscope available for Museum officials, for viewing of tooling marks, degradation, nephritic fibering, etc, and, on some items, have intentionally not removed some coatings, for their viewing. Due to time constraints and the nature of this show, we will not be having the microscope available for casual viewing. No Exceptions, Please].
This massive Hongshan Jade Eagle, with mercury sulfite penetration, was shown last year (along with its mate). This year we will be displaying more than ten huge Hongshan Jade Figures, and many of the more common smaller Hongshan figures. We will also be displaying the oldest Neolithic Jade Burial Mask that we know of in any collection (it was also a worn pendant), with definitive Mongolian-type features, in its in-situ condition. There will also be a set of four huge Hongshan in-situ pieces, from the same burial set. We will be showing a large number of Liangzhu items, including a massive ‘Shovel Bi Pendant’ made of ‘traded’ Khotan Jade. In addition, we have jades of Lake Tai Variegated nephrite showing the reverse flow of Neolithic Period jades that had to have been traded back and forth between the Hongshan, Dawenkou and Liangzhu Cultures. While we can’t show the entirety of our collection, or the collections we represent (nor will we have the room to offer our popular real vs. replication display), all three cases will be very non-museum-like in their set-up, in that every bit of space we can use will be filled.
Liangzhu, Lake Tai Variegated Jade Bi
Early Liangzhu Jade bead in in-situ condition.
Peter Schilling of Taking Form Jade just finished these two marvelous “Galaxies”, with their mounts. The top above is made from Roger Krichbaum’s Yukon Green, and the lower Galaxy is made from Roger’s Yukon Blue ‘Artists Select’ nephrite jade. Both of these spectacular additions will be at the show, and will definitely show Peter’s great finesse with design and polish!
This amazing Qing Dynasty, Red Carnelian Agate Headdress will be shown again this year, along with three other amazing carnelian pieces, including a Ming Dynasty period Guanyin, a Late Qing Dynastic Massive three piece censor, and a hanging chain plate with fish patterns, that are just breathtaking. They are part of an old collection, were purchased in China during the 1950′s by a missionary family, and are part of the White Jadeite Figure collection, among which we will be interspersing these pieces.
We shall also be showing a small, but extremely important, selection of UNESCO Treaty Legal – Pre-Columbian Jadeite and Stone Objects – which will include these two Mayan, green jadeite Ear Spools and Bead, above. [For the sake of security, we will not be publishing on the internet the Olmec Jadeite figures, but those that know our past shows have seen them on display in our gallery and at the Big Sur Jade Festival]. The above two ear spools were once coated with a brown wax (to re-antique), which was restored and was already antique. After a cleaning in acetone and a power-wash, the repair to the one ear spool can best seen in the lower photograph. Real artifacts are OLD and show they age in wear, degradation and repairs. This the rule and not the exception, and is the reason why so many items we have un-authenticated over the years had been sold by ‘stories’, and not by science. With only the old, small repair glue to be seen, the rest of the naturally degraded jadeite can be identified, and areas of minor re-polish detected. Along with the Olmec Jadeite Figures with minor re-cuts and re-polishing (some showing definitive Chinese characteristics, of the same time period – Diffusionism – and a black ware Olmec pottery bowl with definitive incised Chinese-like language characters, which are filled with Sacred Red Iron Oxide, in in-situ condition, and with no repairs), we will be showing ancient Guerrero Stone Figures in 100% in-situ condition. One large figure is from an old collection we represent and the other is from our own sizable collection, showing the finest set of totally petrified tree roots we have ever seen. The petrified tree roots on this figure are not just ‘mineralized’, but have completely pseudo-morphed into the stone, can be seen even with the naked eye, and under microscopic examination are truly remarkable. Both figures have been shown for years, and the tree roots have been examined by many ‘doubters’, including an archeologist from the National Museum in Mexico City.
Above is a Han Dynasty Pei with only small ‘windows’ re-polished to show the color of the Khotan Jade beneath the degradation. We will be showing six Ancient Archaic Jade Peis, ranging in size from approximately 4″ to 13″ in length.
This large Tang Dynasty Sancai Turtle & Snake is in 100% in-situ condition (with the exception of cleaning), with all original soils, roots, and manganese still adhering to its surface, and after years of microscopic investigation, showing absolutely no repairs.
With this Qianlong Blue & White Imperially Commissioned Vase – made in the first year of Qianlong’s Reign – we will be showing one of the rarest Period vases known to exist. Nearly every word and seal on this vase (the exception being one character they could not all agree on) has been authenticated through White/Song Incorporated using the Beijing Museum’s Top officials (original documentation is available). Each word had to be agreed on by at least three out of four of the museum’s top linguistic specialists. When he visited us approximately seven or eight years ago, Professor Chin thought the vase was not correct, but had looked at it for only thirty seconds or so; he can not be faulted in any way, as what he focused on was the new ‘stabilizing’ slip covering the bottom of the vase. He did not have the benefit of being able to clean the vase and find it was newly slipped 2/3rd’s of the way up from the interior bottom. He also did not have approximately seven years of additional microscopic examination time we have had. This is one the biggest problems in the industry – the lack of time to thoroughly investigate artifacts. The following two photos will help us explain a bit more, the minor restorations that occurred to the vase over its history. This vase was made in the first year of Qianlong’s reign, and the work was performed (or at the very least, overseen) by the Superintendent of Jiangdejing, who was given the post by Qianlong’s father, the Yongzheng Emperor; this according to ‘story’ told by the calligraphy on the vase.
In the above two photos, we can see more of the calligraphy and an old re-firing to a minor chip crack that had occurred on the rim. The repair you see on the photo above is much older than the re-slipping of the interior lower 2/3rd’s of the vase. The vase was made in the old style of the Ming crackle, with Ming Dynastic style Leiwen wave patterns, and all original wear and subsequent wear indicators have been totally verified by myself. Because of the very rare nature of this vase and other similarly rare and precious items, microscopic viewing of many of the jades, artifacts, and accent pieces must be reserved for qualified museum professionals and authenticators during this show.
Shown many times before, this Three Layer Han Dynasty Jade Bi is a remarkable specimen of Han Craftsmanship. This bi was re-polished years ago, in the old style, and we have removed all waxes and coatings. Under microscopic conditions, much of the original Han Period tooling can still be easily observed.
This Han Dynasty White Jade Bi with original ‘Chook Bone’ has been shown in all of our previous shows and twice at the Big Sur Jade Festival. It has also been completely cleaned and shows the same period tooling marks as mentioned in the Han Bi above. This piece rounds-out this article, and should give everyone a good idea of the type of show we will be putting on at this year’s Tucson Gem And Mineral Show.
Note: As the new Jade Art pieces are hand-made and one-of-a-kind sculptures, the artists that will be showing with us this year are still completing pieces, and some may receive their final polishing just hours before the show begins. Justin Barrett of – JustinJade – will also be showing with us this year, as he did last year.
As a final reminder, to all professionals: Please do not assume or make firm judgements, while looking from five feet away, about the authenticity of the artifacts we will be showing; please – just ask. Certain repairs and tooling marks can only be seen under microscopic examination. There will be entirely re-polished jades sitting right next to 100% in-situ jade items; where one looks like polished jade, the other looks like a carved rock out of the back yard. We will have Zhou Period Jade vessels sitting right next to their Ming Dynastic copies – the Zhou items show two distinct layers of degradation under microscopic examination, while the Ming items will show only one layer and the re-cut and re-polishing. Because of the nature of the items shown, they will also not be in chronological order (as shelf height will determine placement). And lastly, don’t miss the Ming Dynasty Cloisonne’ Buddha (with two distinct areas of restoration), which we believe could well be the mate to the Tsong Kappa Yellow Hat Reformer (donated by the late Edward Kennedy), which resides at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art, New York. But most of all, please enjoy yourselves during the show.
Show Photographs – Please see below.
David Fredericks – Yulongwei
520-991-2153 US