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Subject:Possibly a modern Biyu (green nephrite jade) Chang'e
Posted By: Bill Sun, Apr 24, 2011
Hi, Tom:
When I looked at your previous SMALL picture and box, I did not believe your piece could be made of real jade because very often all these pieces inside such boxes were tourist pieces and I had yet seen one that was made of real jade - nephrite or jadeite.
However, on these NEW pictures, the label of your piece says in Chinese: (right to Size) "碧玉嫦娥or Bi Yu Chang'e.
Like Bill H said, Chang'e is the Chinese Moon goddess. For more of her story, you can refer to this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e
Bi Yu or Biyu means green jade or green nephrite jade.
If your pictures shows the bottom of this piece reflects the TRUE color of the jade and since your scratch test shows that it cannot be scratched, then I am 98% sure that it was made of green nephrite jade.
True Biyu (green nephrite jade) can be found in XinJiang or Qinghai (at the vicinity of Kunlun Moutain), U.S.A., B.C. Canada, Russia (Siberia), etc. The source of Biyu were very limited because they were not available inside China (XinJiang was not part of China during most Chinese dynasties). As a matter of fact, after the late 70s it was very difficult to find REAL nephrite for jade factories to make jade carvings, and they were reserved for making high-priced antique imitation pieces. At the bottom of your jade piece, I believe it says in Cai Shu or simplified Chinese (8 characters) : "Master Art Designer, Special design for festival celebration."
I do not know how the size and weight of your piece and therefore could not estimate its cost in material. Normally, if you multiply the weight of the piece by 2 to 2.5 it would be the raw material needed to carve a piece. Sometime, for more delicate pieces, it may even require more material.
It is almost impossible to judge what type of biyu (green nephrite) by its look or even by its physical property. DNA typing of jade material in order to pinpoint the original source of nephrite jade, while had been discussed, is still not reliable.
However, any pieces that were made of Siberia spinach green nephrite jade, will be worth quite a lot in material alone. If I have to guess the age of your piece, based on its material and workmanship, I would have to say probably in the late 60s or very early 70s. Strangely enough, after the Olympics being held in Beijing, China, there seemed to be significant leftover of Biyu material (after making Olympic medals)and some of the pieces made of this material (weight from 300 gram to 750 gram) will be sold from $ 80 to $ 299.
I have seen this piece of so called Tai Shan Biyu Chang'e here:
http://detail.china.alibaba.com/buyer/offerdetail/673169856.html
Its asking price is about RMB 2400 for 1-20 pieces (about US $400); 2300 for 21-40; 2200 for 41-50.
It actually says dollars but since its company was in China (ShangTung), therefore I assumed it was listed in RMB.
However, I have checked on the Tai Shan Biyu:
http://baike.baidu.com/view/4605674.htm#sub4605674
While it says this type of biyu has a MOH hardness of 4.5 - 6 (which may or may not pass the scratch test; if it can pass the scratch test, it has to be harder than 5) and its specific gravity is only 2.53-2.85, too low for nephrite jade (2.90 or higher). Therefore, at best it is only a very high-grade serpentine or serpentine-nephrite mixture.
It would be almost impossible to tell for sure if your piece is made of REAL nephrite jade or not because some high-grade serpentine can pass the scratch test. Pieces that were made of green jasper (hardness of 6.5 or higher) can also easily pass scratch test. It will be almost impossible to tell from pictures alone without performing a specific gravity or refractive index test on them. Just like I said previously I have yet seen mass production pieces from China that were put inside boxes were made of REAL jade (nephrite or jadeite) because such materials were both expensive and not readily available inside China (had to be imported). Usually real nephrite jade were reserved only for high-priced antique imitation pieces.
I do not know if the $1000 asking price for this piece is in U.S.A. dollars or?
There is a Vintage Chinese Dark Green Spinach Jade Large Quan Yin:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Chinese-Dark-Green-Spinach-Jade-Large-Quan-Yin-/290556218679?pt=Asian_Antiques&hash=item43a6800d37
with an asking price of US $ 1,199 or Make an offer. I cannot tell if it was made of real green nephrite jade or not.
I believe if your piece weighs at least 300 gram and if the dealer would offer return privilege with no question asked with one hundred percent refund guarantee, I will not pay more than $ 200-500 for it. If it was made of real biyu (after confirming with Specific gravity test), then I believe may be just may be it will be worth this price. It is very difficult to put a price on any ART piece, especially a MODERN jade piece.
Good luck. Hope this may help.
Bill
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