Posted 11 years ago
shrine
(10 items)
Bought from online shop at my own risk. I thought it has a 50% some chance to be Jadeite, otherwise jade, glass or anything you name it. I knew it's nothing else but jadeite when it fell into my hand but still being troubled by dating this item. My best guess is an chinese export made in early 20c to 70s. Anybody came across similar things please comment.
Welcome Shrine. Nice first post. Its looks, nice even if a repro. The trouble with online shopping is not being able to handle the things first.
Hi Jwendell, it's is a standard brick wall, the item measures 19cm tall and 6 cm thick. I don't have a precise scale but it is quite heavy.
Hi Fran , Yes, it's a repro probably as jadeite doesn't have a long history as jade. The oldest jadeite item was found in mid Qing dynasty, 250 year ago. Hence the value of age doesn't really count in this case.
Online shopping is not a even play ground against the seller, but still a fair play against other buyers as long as the pics are high quality.
Interesting, thanks for the info Shrine. I see you keep getting asked to look at this or that, lol, i thought you maybe in demand as there's only a handful of Asian collectors here.
May i add to list of people asking your advise & ask you look at this for me. its Japanese and 20th century, but would love to know if this type of artwork has a name or if there's any info on the writing (or signature), thank you
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/105777-japanese-picture-with-origami-folded
Hi Phil, you have a classy taste. I paid $300 for this base. Ming style, simply outstanding. I believe the base was carved from a single piece of Huang Huali wood block in mid Qing dynasty. The most expensive wood now days. I haven't seen many wooden items shown on this website, not sure anybody around interested in timber.
Hi shrine, nice first post!
I love the stand, more than the jadeite! I prefer moss in snow or apple mottled :-)
Huang hua li is a real beauty, but so sought after there is a lot of simple huali modern wood on the Bay when looking for it...
Can I invite you to have a look on my "toggle" ?http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/99824-antique-laquered-chinese-agate-toggle?in=user
Hi kyratango, Huang huali requires highly trained eyes and even so expert sometimes could be fooled by online image. I constantly scanning online shops/sales, more than 95% ebay items claiming huang huali are easily identified as intentionally/unintentionally misleading.
Get some advices before buying into any Huang huali piece.
Hi shrine! I just post a nice piece of wood for you :
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/116788-antique-vietnamese-family-altar?in=user
Impatient to see your other treasures!
toolate2 - Thank you for loving it.
Late 20th to current at best. Huang Huali from mid-Qing seems far fetched.
davezquanw - Thank you for comment. As this post is dedicated to the ZUN, not much details about the base has been made available to date. I may do it in another post.
I've also update a photo to show the carving details on this ZUN. I personally think it nothing near the carving done by powered tools. Given the powered tools has been introduced to Jade carving in mid 20c, I couldn't imagine someone would had carved jadeite(Very hard to carve, above 7 according to Mohs scale of mineral hardness) later than 70s.
Well, to be frank, I find the carvings to be poor and only the inexperienced eye tends to be impressed. IF it is indeed jadeite, such material has little value after retail, not to mention the mediocre carvings. More decorative and touristy. Astute collectors know better than to "buy online". Cheers.
davezquanw - Thank you for your frank comment. Yes, the carving is poor compared to authentic imperial jade, no doubt. However there are some plain facts about jade carving.
1, Common Jade has a Mohs hardness 3 to 4, Hetian Jade is 6, softer and easier to carve than Jadeite.
2, A jade job in this size takes months to be done by hand or just days to be done by power tools.
3, A symmetric jade ware makes partial use of raw stone while a randomly shaped item makes full use.
The choice is to buy a poorly hand carved piece or a well done job by power tools. To me the 'carving defects' hold the value, but that's a completely personal choice.
The base is gorgeous. I watched a show explaining how quality wood like this started to dwindle mid to late 1700's. Mid Qing as you informed us puts this right in that era of fine wood like your base becoming increasingly hard to obtain. Great post shrine. I learnt a lot.