72 replies to this topic

[Kenneth]

These jades that follow allegedly come from within Yunnan, and correspond to the broad SouthEast Asian form known as Dong Son culture. This culture is named after a vietnamese site, but the culture was present in parts Burma, Thailand, north Viet Nam and southern China.
The Chinese material seems to date to around ZHou period (according to the central plains history) and may have lasted longer outside of China.
These areas (Yunnan) include many diverse peoples in even modern China and still have a relationship to cultures outside of China. The influence of the central plains is only felt in areas to the north, and more particularily to the south as late as Han.
In this way these pieces are attributed to Yunnan, correspond to archaeolgical examples in South East Asia. This group, and others not shown here were gifted to me by Chad Herrington, author of "Early Chinese Stone & Circular Art", and a former San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist.
These pieces were given to me as study pieces for familiarisation of original tooling and alterations that occur on nephrite jade over time.
This first picture shows a page from his book, with a pair of these typical jade disc/bangles placed atop. They are very similar to bangles excavated from graves dating to Thailands bronze age.

Edited by Kenneth, 04 July 2005 - 11:49 PM.

[Kenneth]

Nephrite jade bangle, repaired with 2 bronze pins in ancient times.
All the following jades date to around the ZHou period or earlier, and allegedly come from Yunnan.
These bangles are attributed to the Dong Son culture, by during this time southeast asia was working bronze.
Traces of plant roots from the jades burial can be seen at about 1-2 o'clock, earth encrustations (quite cemented on) are visable as well & some sort of deposit at 9-10 o'clock which I would loosely term 'calcination'.
The areas of whitening around jade are a feature of great age, and often faked on market forgeries to decieve..this is also reffered to loosely as 'calcination' althought I would consider when calcite or limestone fas affixed on the surface a better use of the term.
The whitening which most commonly occurs on archiac jade is also, and more correctly reffered to as 'crystal degradation' and should be understood as like the difference between ice & snow.
Snow is cloudy, but ice can be clear; even though both are H2o.
In the same way an ancient jade can alter to white, this includes what Chinese jade scholars call 'chickenbone white' or 'beancurd white' jade.
The whitening on the market forgery jades (when faked on jades to decieve a buyer) is primarily done by extreme heat which over a course of hours damages a jade to white...or a chemical fake jade where the chemical itself damages the jade and turns it white.
The primary difference commented on, and visible on these ancient jades and fakes, is between lustre (or natural reflective shine) of some real ancient jades.
Because a true whiteneing by age alone is just an alteration to the crystals (as snow and ice) of the nephrite jade without any minerological change the jade can be oiled or polished and still have 'lustre' return even if white.
A real 'chickenbone white' ancient jade can even be oiled and reveal the colour of the jade beneath...while a fake jade has been damaged to white and will not reveal its colour through the damaged layer. A fake can appear duller looking under light also, and oil and moisture will not lift the original colour of the jade again.
For instance..this jade here is a dark green like NZ nephrite 'greenstone', and it can be seen by wetting and putting a light behind the jade (via transmitted light).
The modern fakes do not reveal their colour in this way.

Edited by Kenneth, 07 July 2005 - 12:01 AM.

[Kenneth]

bangle, opp side. Whitening to the dark green jade. Bronze pins from ancient repair (as well as modern glued fragments). Earth encrustation and plant root traces.

Edited by Kenneth, 10 July 2005 - 11:51 PM.

[Kenneth]

images from a text on archaic chinese jades, most in this text being Beijing National Palace jades. This object is discussed without its location being identified. The author mentions the natural appearance of the jade when uncleaned and uses this example. A chinese phrase which translates as 'spitting dust' is the old scholarly way to refer to such jades. A light dry polishing will restore some lustre however he notes.
The author discusses the disc/bangle and says he believes the identification fo these as jewellery is incorrect and they likely are a smaller version of a ritual disc like a Bi, or the jade tubes Tsong/Cong etc. He considers this too small to be a bangle. I disagree.
His dimensions are 10cm diameter, and 5.5cm internal diameter. This seems small, as do the actual objects when I show them to people..but some fragments I fit around my wifes hand shows they can be worn....but not nessecarily taken on and off easily. The idea of comfort is often secondary to cultural fashion, and we might have trouble understanding metal rings for stretching of necks if we didnt see them on living tribal people...or lip discs found in a grave would not make sense without a living example of the cut and stretched lips etc.
These bangles are not so hard to believe, and this text picture is comparible to the stlye of Dong Son/South East Asian which have been found on skeletons arms many times.
The measurments are comparible to the hundreds of such discs that Chad has in his book...and the 10cm and 5.5cm bangle would be an average size.



Edit; all of the thumbnail pictures on this thread can be expanded by clicking, but since I have taken a better image of this bracelet since I will directly link this image;

Edited by Kenneth, 16 November 2006 - 09:23 PM.

[Kenneth]

this piece is more interesting than it first appears...again there are traces of two pieces of bronze wire/pins and earth encrustation, plant root traces etc. but this is actually 2 totally different bangles worked into one. I am of the opinion that the 2 bangles were worked together in ancient times before being broken again (missign pieces).
It was so skillfully done that I didn't notice this was 2 different bangles untill I held it edge on and saw incised conectric circles as decoration and variations in width alone the internal collar. (shown below).
Another feature of an ancient worked stone is the cutting/tooling mark that still remains at 9 - 12 o'clock along the top thin edge of the internal collar. It shows the beginnign of a cut to remove the centre of the unfinished disc that was then re-alligned and then cut through (such jades are cut from two sides, or drilled from 2 sides and then meet in the middle).

Edited by Kenneth, 14 July 2005 - 11:47 PM.

[Kenneth]

another view of the same bangle, showing the concentric circles on the outside fo the collar. These were added as decoration, and are absent from the second half from which the bangle was constructed.
With the amout of repairs made to these nephrite bangles it shows they must have broken through wear fairly often. This form is not as robust as the jade rings commonly worn by Chinese women on the wrist today...and yet these still break with a fall, and I am told by my Chinese in-laws the jade protects the wearer when it breaks.

Edited by Kenneth, 14 July 2005 - 11:52 PM.

[Kenneth]

2 images of jade bangles (and other objects) in Dong Son graves.
Note the bronze pin repair on the bottom picture and it being on the arm of a skeleton. The function and the dimensions confirm these are bangles and worn on the forearms.

Edited by Kenneth, 11 July 2005 - 12:02 AM.

[Kenneth]

another in-situ grave. The bangle of is again clearly worn on the arm at the time fo burial and the dimensions (ruler in picture) shows a size very close to the 10cm diameter and 5.5cm internal diameter of such pieces.

It should be remembered that these are very ancient populations and may be smaller in stature than modern populations.....I often find that the handles for swords of 2,000 or more years ago tend to feel uncomforatbly small in my hands.
This is not just genetics=smaller race but also nutrition during childhood. Even Europeans as late as the 18th century tended to be smaller than the modern populations.

Edited by Kenneth, 11 July 2005 - 12:07 AM.

[Kenneth]

this jade bangle is again a dark green nephrite with black bands that had partially altered to white. There is a cemented mineral encrustation at 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock and this is much like some fo the minerals which can be found on ancient bronze. This has made me aware (as I had been told earlier) that some minerals on bronze like this could affix from the soil too, rather than arising in the bronze.

On the inside of the bange at the top is a cutting/tooling mark that hasnt been removed, as well as 2 small drilled holes, one open through the cross section. I suspect this ring had a broad thin edge like the arlier examples which broke. The holes were drilled to reattach a corner (as examples Chad Herrington text shows) but when this broke or was unsuccesful they simple ground the outer ring down to a narrower band. The outer ring is almost ground down to the collar at the top (although not clear in this picture) but the second modification left it as shown here.
Again the white alteration on this jade can be temporarily removed by water or oiling, and the dark green jade revealed. Not all jades whiten in the same way but the 'crystal degradation' on this jade must not be complete and the original colour can be lifted briefly.

Edited by Kenneth, 15 July 2005 - 12:00 AM.

[Kenneth]

jade jue (earing).
This style of earing is a feature of the Chinese neolithic jade cultures...and continued as late as Shang. Some people find this form appearing in the south of China as late as Zhou suprising but earler forms of bronze which had vanished in the central plains continued in this area to later dates also.
This shows a kind of cultural contact, or broader cultures...and that fashions were adopted by some and dropped by others. For instance the Shang can be linked to the LongShan neolithic by neolithic pottery prototypes that the Shang rendered in bronze, as well as two jade forms (TSong and Bi) of which Bi ritual discs in particular remained a popular form untill later dynasties long after its religious meaning had been forgotten.
At these times areas of southern China might not be considered strictly 'Chinese' by a traditional view of Chinese history.
This form of Jue found in Dong Song areas suggests there was cultural contact between distant groups in early times, and some materials (stone/shell & later glass) were evidently traded long distances.
Note the lustre of this jade, despite being altered to white.


text to follow......and more items.

Edited by Kenneth, 15 July 2005 - 12:11 AM.

[Kenneth]

maybe just one more.....
a tiny jade axe...matchbox sized.
Probably a token.


.....more tommorow

[Kenneth]

Signs of jade tooling. Concentric circles from a rotating cutting tool are visable here.
These aren't for decoration but show the marking made from 'coring' the nephrite pre-form. (I will show examples of jade 'rough outs' or pre-forms shortly)
These concentric rings were puzzling at first but between discussing with Chad and also a report from the Acta Geologica Tawian (for all its faults) the contributer Prof. Tsien provides diagrams of marks on ancient jades and the cross sections of drill holes and tools that may have made them in his 'archiac Yu (jade) carving technique' section.
The Dong Son seem to use a technology similar to what he attributes to the Shang method of cutting the jade.
A cast tubular metal tool (bronze or perhaps iron) is impregnated with an abraisive grit (like sandpaper) and this is attached to a rotating shaft. This leaves these concentric parralell bands on the inside as it slowly abrades away through the jade...which is how jade is cut through. This is not unlike neolitic hole drilling, which is generally from two sides. The ability to cast a metal tube and attach to a shaft for coring jade seems to be a logical for the south east asian/Dong Son culture since there must have been quite an industry around manufacturing bangles of jade, calcite and other materials.
I have seen images of several sets of bangles on the arms of skeletons in graves, and a rotating tool like this would make the shaping on jade much more efficient.
The marks correspond very closely to the tooling mark diagrams in Prof. Tsiens paper on archaic Yu.

A couple of the jade beads here have the same remains of these concentric rings and show they are fragments of once circular jades (other discs or bangles). Another jade piece in there I have had suggested is a forms are made form reworked Jue (an earring type as shown above).
The holes for threads are drilled with most likely a number of thin bamboo stalks, abrasive grit, water and a lot of patience.
The use of bamboo allowed the drilling of much finer holes than those using a stone drill point on a rotating wooden shaft/pump drill.
This type of simple stone drill point was used to drill jade in NZ by the Maori, and examples I have seen on NZ jade, stone and bone artefacts show a much more angular crossectioned hole which meets in the middle (drilled from 2 sides). The pre-historic Chinese drilled jade & stone in this fashion too, however by the late neolithic and certainly by the early dynasties the jade drilling is much finer (although still not comparible to modern tools).

Edited by Kenneth, 18 July 2005 - 11:49 PM.

[Kenneth]

As for the moment I can't edit in more information into the images I posted earlier (for unknown reason) I will expand upon what I had wanted to say about the above jade adze here;
(above)
"""A tiny jade axe, altered to white. This is a puzzling piece and I am not sure if it is functional or a token (symbol).
There are stone adze I have seen in NZ that can get down this small, as a result of a lifetime of reworking, resharpening and repairing of the adze over time they can be reduced into a near matchbox sized piece more like a chisel. I am unsure this is reworked, or simply a piece for exchange or some meaning beyond a tool. Other small stone adze pieces Chad gave me were even smaller, and most either be chisels or not even tools at all as they are too small to be used unless hafted and tapped with a mallet.
Regardless this is a nice piece and has a sharpened bevel as good as any stone tool.
Note; in the South East of China even as late as East Zhou there was still some use of stone tools, as a cheaper and freely availible alternative to iron and bronze. If the skill existed to manufacture stone axes/adzes then in the areas outside the central plain again this practice lasted longer when it had vanished in the north. In this way the age of this piece could be anything from truly pre-historic (thousands of years BC) to as late as several centuries BC as the area it originates from is allegedly Yunnan."""

[Craig]

Signs of jade tooling. Concentric circles from a rotating cutting tool are visable here.
These aren't for decoration but show the marking made from 'coring' the nephrite pre-form. (I will show examples of jade 'rough outs' or pre-forms shortly)
These concentric rings were puzzling at first but between discussing with Chad and also a report from the Acta Geologica Tawian (for all its faults) the contributer Prof. Tsien provides diagrams of marks on ancient jades and the cross sections of drill holes and tools that may have made them in his 'archiac Yu (jade)  carving technique' section.
The Dong Son seem to use a technology similar to what he attributes to the Shang method of cutting the jade.
A cast tubular metal tool (bronze or perhaps iron) is impregnated with an abraisive grit (like sandpaper) and this is attached to a rotating shaft. This leaves these concentric parralell bands on the inside as it slowly abrades away through the jade...which is how jade is cut through. This is not unlike neolitic hole drilling, which is generally from two sides. The ability to cast a metal tube and attach to a shaft for coring jade seems to be a logical for the south east asian/Dong Son culture since there must have been quite an industry around manufacturing bangles of jade, calcite and other materials.
I have seen images of several sets of bangles on the arms of skeletons in graves, and a rotating tool like this would make the shaping on jade much more efficient.
The marks correspond very closely to the tooling mark diagrams in Prof. Tsiens paper on archaic Yu.

A couple of the jade beads here have the same remains of these concentric rings and show they are fragments of once circular jades (other discs or bangles). Another jade piece in there I have had suggested is a forms are made form reworked Jue (an earring type as shown above).
The holes for threads are drilled with most likely a number of thin bamboo stalks, abrasive grit, water and a lot of patience.
The use of bamboo allowed the drilling of much finer holes than those using a stone drill point on a rotating wooden shaft/pump drill.
This type of simple stone drill point was used to drill jade in NZ by the Maori, and examples I have seen on NZ jade, stone and bone artefacts show a much more angular crossectioned hole which meets in the middle (drilled from 2 sides). The pre-historic Chinese drilled jade & stone in this fashion too, however by the late neolithic and certainly by the early dynasties the jade drilling is much finer (although still not comparible to modern tools).

Good article. I understand that the abrasive grit was fixed in an animal fat. As you mentioned, a lot of patience was required. The tool used in jade carving, yet seldom mentioned, is time. Often pieces were past from father to son to be completed.

[Kenneth]

Thanks for your reply!
There were a variety of methods at a variety of times, and you are correct. Tsiens paper (as well as another I put a link to earlier here) listed various methods, although simple were effective. It also appears the Liangzhu may well have sometimes gathered diamond powder or ultra hard particles from alluvial deposits (like silt) and 'panned' for it (as a gold miner does) by using animal skin. This could cut down jade to ultra fine polishes, and the infered evidence for this being used in some cases is strong.
As for the length of time, the father to son carving jade story is repeated for the pre-historic jade carving industry of the Maori too, but I reasonably would put it at weeks to produce an item. Longer fine art works might require huge periods of time of course but when an industry and skill base is effecient I would anticipate sites that produced these items as a speciality and in numbers. These will be the Chinese equivalent I have found in NZ of stone working/industrial areas, and I have a number of ancient jade & calcite 'cores as well as 'pre-forms & 'blanks' of unfinshed Dong Son jades I will post soon.
The fact these have turned up provides some insight into the industry, and suggests people have found workshop sites where jades were made.
Early settlers noted that Maori in quiet times might pull out a jade and rub it on a stone while they talk, but the length of time by simple abrasion does not need to be years.
I know of archeaologists in NZ who made perfect stone adzes in the traditonal way (and length of time is something I pondered when I began to find stone workshops and fragments or whole adzes during my fieldwrk) and he can work, flake, fine polish and haft and stone adze in 2 days and then chop down a tree with it!.
The tools worked well, and the investment was not for a tool for the grandchildren (or a bangle in this case), although I have heard that 'generations of work' idea before I dont believe it will be born out by any real test.