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What are Modern jade carvings?

It seems quite often if somebody will post any jade items in this forum for the purpose of soliciting the opinions of other members, one of the most favorable responses given by some members would be:

�These are modern!�
or worse,
�These are modern jade fakes!�
or �These are modern junks.�

Using a recent thread posted by kk as an example:

http://asianart.com/phpforum/index.php?method=detailAll&Id=40782#40782

in which he posted pictures of a group of what he believed were mostly Ming/Qing jade items that were made of hetian jade (including one bi he believed was that of Warring State/Han dynasty, not made of hetian jade).

Ms. A Mui�s immediate response was:

�Without personal handling, they all look modern to me, and the white jade you think may be molded and carved Peking glass.�

And Mr. Tony D Allen responded:

�These all look to be fairly cheap jade carvings similar to those currently available at the jade markets in Hong Kong or Guangzhou.�

Now I am not judging who was right or wrong here because I cannot tell myself and to be fair, Lee also said,

�Hi KK, It is nice to see you got a real enthusiasm for jade. However I must warn you that there are plenty of replicas in the market and the ones you have shown the only genuine piece are the last 3 pieces- the jade plaque with the bronze, the set of dragon jade plaques and the bone jade fungi plaque. The rest are replica possibly modern or republic. I have seen modern replicas of such items in Beijing. You got to study the cut lines they mustn't be broad or deep. the ones you shown are cut with a small diamond disc. also there mustn't be any unnecessary cuts. �

(*It is interested that Lee using both Modern and Republic in the same sentence, therefore to him they are different.)

The main point I would like to discuss here is:

�What exactly are Modern jade carvings?�

Many of you would say, that would be easy, using the common definition for antiques, any jade items that are less than 100 years old will be considered �Modern�. Right?

Well, let us see, we just started the year of 2010, 100 years ago it will be 1910, which happened to be the last year of the Qing dynasty, correct?

Therefore, technically, a jade piece that was made in 1910 should be labeled as �late Qing� or �late late Qing�, right? Now should you call it �modern� because it is less than 100 years old?

Well, you may say I am just trying to be picky, let us just consider any jade items that were made after the Qing dynasty to be labeled as �Modern�. Now once again, how can anybody really tell the difference between some of the nice hetian jade carvings that were made in late Qing dynasty with those that were made during early Republic year? They were made by the same jade carvers in China, made of similar material and therefore look identical in all aspects.

Now if I remember correctly, if any antiques including jade carvings that are allowed to be exported outside China, they had to be accompanied with some types of export certificates and a RED wax seal placing on them, otherwise they would be confiscated by the Chinese custom officials upon exit of China. It seems antiques between 1796 and 1949 are required to have this wax seal. Therefore, does that mean any jade carvings that are made after 1949 should be considered �MODERN�?

http://www.at0086.com/at_News/271/702949647926936.html

http://www.regenttour.com/chinaplanner/pek/bj-shopping-what.htm

What are Modern Tool Marks?

Now to make matters much more complex is that again very often many of these same members who would call these jade carvings �MODERN� are based their opinions on their observations of �modern tool marks� found on these jade carvings. Therefore, if there is evidence of �modern tool marks�, these jade carvings must be �MODERN�.

Again, in referring to KK�s group of Ming/Qing hetian jade carvings, Mr. Allen commented on their tool marks:

�Thank you for posting such clear photos of modern tool marks. One can see the rotating bit marks clearly where they run off line, especially on the curved edges. The scoured bottoms of the cut lines are another immediate indicator.�

He further commented:

�it needs to be remembered that the ancient jade craftsmen used an abrasive back and forth rubbing action to form their cut lines. This meant, with rare exceptions, that the bottoms of cut lines were smoothe and there were no chips on the upper edges.�

And

�bear in mind this in ancient times would have been made with rotating bamboo (and abrasives), and ask yourself how it could be of undulating depth with varying width of cut.�

And

�They are clearly to be seen in the pictures and as I said previously I can see no signs of bamboo drilling, but rather the clear signs of modern electric power drilling.�

Now I am a little confused with his comments. What exactly did he mean by �ancient times�? How ancient is ancient? More than 100 years? More than 1000 years? In Neolithic time? Are Ming or Qing dynasty ancient time?

What types of tools he believe are used to leave this type of �modern tool marks� on this group of supposedly Ming/Qing jade carvings?

When did this type of carving tools become available? About what time period?

It seems, according to Mr. Allen�s comments, any tool marks that were not made with �rotating bamboo and abrasives� will be considered �modern tool marks�. But then he also mentioned modern electrical drilling.

Will any metal carving tools be allowed in ancient time? Are any tool marks left by such metal carving tools should be considered �modern tool marks�?

I kind of like the rebuttal made by Mr. Oriental Treasures:

�Tony pointed out the �chips on the upper edges.� In Cantonese we call that �cheok gong� or pull/jab/saw carving with metal wires that produced those jagged edges. He went on to say �in ancient times would have been made with rotating bamboo (and abrasives),� By �ancient time�, did Tony mean Ming, Shang/Zhou or even Neolithic? As far back as the Hongshan Culture, a duet of square pottery molds were unearthed at the relics of a house at Xitai, Aohan Banner, which is the earliest mold for metal casting, shows that the early people of Hongshan Culture had mastered the technology of copper or bronze casting. Small copper rings were excavated. During the Longshan Culture, bronze forge appeared. There are two pieces of bronze prick unearthed at Sanlihe village, in Jiaoxian County of Shandong Province, which remained from this transitional period between Stone Age and Bronze Age. By the Xia Dynasty, bronze was already used to make weapons and vessels of all types. And of course we all are aware of the fantastic bronze wares of Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
Then, iron was introduced in the Zhou dynasty.
There has never been any evidence that bamboo was used to drill holes. If one looks carefully at the very fine, parallel lines on Liangzhu jades, one would come away with the impression that metal must have been used. The latest consensus of jade experts is that metal was already in use to carve jade during Neolithic period.
Therefore, to suggest that Ming jade carvers were still using bamboo to drill holes is utter nonsense when iron (and maybe even steel) was readily available.�

I did some researches myself:

On the jade book, �Chinese Carved Jades� written by Prof. S. Howard Hansford, in Chapter 3 Progress of the Art, p. 50:

�With the advent of the Bronze Age, however, more precious control of the material, with a variety of new effects, became possible. ��.Relief carving was cleverly simulated by incising the designs in pairs of parallel lines and bevelling the edges of the incisions. The great precision obtainable with bronze tools is demonstrated by comparing the conical perforations made with the bamboo drill, with the neat cylindrical holes made with bronze-pointed drills. The effect of the relief carving was further enhanced by grinding out inclined planes between the incisions�.�

�In recent times and for many centuries past most jade carvings has been executed with rotary tools of iron or steel fitted in iron or wooden shafts. These are mounted on wooden lathes and rotated reciprocally by foot-treadles, leaving the craftsman�s hands free to apply the abrasive and to hold the jade against the head or edge of the tool. Before the introduction of iron, when the only industrial metal was bronze, a valuable and much less durable material, it appears that the work was done with awls, knives and spatule grasped in the craftsman�s right hand, the jade being held on the branch with his left. There is no evidence of the use of rotary tools on any of the Shang or Early Chou jades here illustrated apart from the making of perforations. This was doubtless performed with drills of bamboo, which were either sharpened or fitted with bronze points and rotated with a bow. The advent of iron, a comparatively cheap and durable metal, to the jade workshops, probably not long before the millennium B.C., must have led to a revolution in the craft through the introduction, or greatly extended use, of rotary tools. This led to acceleration of the work and far more accomplished carving. I should add that the diamond, even when available, has been little used by the Chinese jade carver, except for drilling perforations with the diamond point, and for the initial stages of inscriptions, �.�

It can clearly seen from the above paragraph that metal carving tools made of bronze has been available as early as the Shang dynasty and iron carving tools as early as the 1st millennium BC (1000 BC to 1 BC). Therefore it is quite puzzling that Mr. Allan seems to believe in ancient time including Ming & Qing dynasty only bamboo drill could be used.

According to another book �Chinese Jade Carvings�, written by Prof. Hansford, Chapter V, Progress of the Craft in China, p. 94, �2. Drilling the Holes�:

�By comparison, the holes in most of the ancient Chinese stone tools are beautifully neat and circular. It may be thought that this could only have been achieved with metal drills. In the case of the smallest holes this may be true, but for the making of drills down to three or four millimeters in diameter, nature had provided the Chinese with an almost perfect material � the bamboo.�

�When a bronze drill was first employed, it was probably used only to make small holes, while the bamboo tube may have long continued in use to make the larger orifices. Bronze should have been scarce at first, and a bronze tube costly to make and hardly more efficient than a bamboo one.

Holes in ancient jades, apparently made with a metal drill, are more nearly cylindrical in section, though the contour at the surface may be, by no means, a perfect circle. Some are very small, no more than a millimetre in diameter.�

�However, clumsiness in the drilling of holes is not, as we have seen, invariably an indication of primitive workmanship, nor neatness that of an otherwise advanced technique. The result would depend on the skill of the craftsman who performed the drilling. ��

This shows that the age of a jade carving could not be determined by whether bamboo drills or metal drills were used, or even based on the workmanship of the drillings because the workmanship depends mostly on the skill of the craftsman and not necessarily on the type of tools he used.

Furthermore, if you look at the preciseness of the Liangzhu cong, we now know that they had both diamond and corundum to work with but I am almost sure that they had to use some type of metal tools to carve their jade congs with such precisions. Same may apply to some Hongshan jade carvings, if you take a look at the mouths of some of the Hongshan pig dragon, how straight and even the edges of their slits are, it looks almost they had to be carved with the assistance of some metal tools. The thing is nobody can pinpoint exactly how long Hongshan era was and could not rule out the possibility it might overlap with the Bronze Age.

Now KK responded to Tony�s statement:

�The skinny dragon is in classic early-mid Ming style, it was done in wire pierced technique which is very popular during Ming period (nothing like the bamboo stick technique Tony mention). This type of dragon belt plague was discovered in many high ranking Ming tombs. I included a few pictures of similar pieces from a Ming tomb and now it was in the collection of Beijing museum.�

And

�"electric power drilling"??

Close up picture shows abrasives drilling holes are circled in thin back lines. Metal wire insert in the holes and push and pull with fine abrasives in various of angles.�

Diamond drilling and expanding perforations with wire saw

However, in order to be fair to Mr. Allen, on chapter IV of �Chinese Jade Carvings�, Methods of Jade Carving, Section 2, Modern Chinese Methods, Prof. Hansford did describe some of the �MODERN� jade carving methods be observed in China (probably between 1939 to 1950 when he wrote the book), and on p. 83 he described the use of diamond drill for drilling holes and the enlarging of perforation using a wire saw:

�We now come to a tool employing a different abrasive, the diamond drill, ta yen tsuan. Strange to say, industrial diamond are not used in Peking workshops except with this tool, though at Canton the treadle-operated discs have been superseded, to some extent, by power-driven diamond saws for preliminary cutting of the stone. In the eighteenth century diamond-points were used to cut the long inscription seen on jades of the period, costly work for which imperial commissions are no longer given nor a profitable market to be found. Minute characters were cut entirely with the diamond-point, those of the size of normal handwriting or larger, were first traced with the diamond-point and then shaped with iron tools held in hand. Their strokes display all the spontaneity and elegance of form of the brushwork form which they are copied.

The drill consists of a piece of bamboo cane, six inches long, into the lower end of which a short steel wire is fixed. Two small diamond splinters are set in a slot at the end of the wire, which is then filed down until the points of the diamonds protrude beyond it. The upper end of the bamboo is shod with iron, and rests in a little porcelain cup held by the craftsman in the palm of his left hand. With his right he operates a bow, similar to that used with the tubular drill, to rotate the tool with a rapid reciprocal motion. The object to be drilled is firmly held on a wooden slat below the surface of a tubful of water, which keeps the stone and metal cool. The use of the diamond drill is, of course, a preliminary to all open-work carving.

When a perforation is completed it may be enlarged and shaped by the wire saw, wan kung chu. This consists of a bow of bamboo with a wire connecting the two extremities. One end of the wire is detachable, so that it may be passed through the perforation. The saw is worked to and fro with the right hand, while the wet sand is applied to the wire with the forefinger of the left. For further enlargement of a perforation a narrow strip of steel, called tsa tiao, similarly anointed with abrasive, is rubbed backwards and forwards against the side of the hole.

The final process is those concerned with polishing. The jade is first rubbed down with the chiao to. This is a tool similar in shape to the large grinding wheel, mo to, but moulded of a mixture of shellace, tzu chiao, and fine-grade carborundum. It is rotated on the wooden shaft of the lathe, but does not, of course, require the application of abrasive during use. ���

I find the above description fascinating because at the beginning of the author�s �2. Modern Chinese Methods� he says, �As far as I am aware, no Chinese author has written an account of technique of jade carving.� That was written around 1950. I believe his accounting of some of the jade carving methods then and for earlier would give us some insight into how tool marks of modern and ancient Chinese jade may look like.

I do not know how long the above diamond drill technique described by the author had been used, possibly between 1939-1950, or as early as the beginning of the century (around 1900). I am also not sure if the wire saw techniques using to enlarge the perforations were available as early as Ming and Qing dynasty. They possible could. Therefore, until we can really examine kk�s Ming/Qing jade carvings closely or performing some test on them (check for diamond grit?), we may never know if his jade pieces are indeed that of Ming or Qing, or indeed may be �MODERN� because they might be carved between 1939-1950 or early Republic because they might be using the above described technique in carving them.

However, one thing is for sure, until we can fully define what exactly �MODERN JADE CARVINGS� are and what exactly �modern carving tool marks� or for that matter, modern carving
tools are, we will just run around in circles when we try to label any jade carvings as �MODERN� or describe the tool marks found on them as �MODERN TOOL MARKS�.

To me, modern carving tools are those electrical high-speed carving tools used with diamond or corundum grit in the carving and polishing of jade pieces. Tool marks left by them on the jade carvings will be considered as �modern tool marks�. This type of electrical carving tools were not put into wide use till the early 60s. Therefore, any jade carvings made before then should not have any modern tool marks on them.

Therefore, if we want to define �MODERN JADE CARVINGS� as those jade carvings that were carved with modern carving tools and displayed with apparent �MODERN TOOL MARKS� on them, we must not call those jade carvings that were made with manual carving tools, with or without metal, prior to early 60s. May be we should call those jade pieces that are not more than 100 years old but were made prior to early 60s as Republican or Vintage jade carvings but not �MODERN�.

On the other hand, if we insist in calling any jade carvings that are less than 100 years old as �MODERN�, then we may end up calling a small number of late Qing dynasty jade carvings �MODERN� (those that were made in 1910) and we may see:

Modern jade carvings without modern tool marks
And
Modern jade carvings with modern tool marks.

Of course, these are only my recommended definitions and all comments are welcome. The only intent of my message is to show that some time things may not be as simple as they may seem and no jade collectors can be one hundred percent sure if they are indeed correct in their attribution of a jade carving, especially based on pictures alone. May be, just may be, next time, before any members will call any jade carvings being posted in this forum as �MODERN� and that they see� MODERN TOOL MARKS� on them, they really need to clarify in exactly what they mean.

Bill

On January 25th I left a message on my original post entitled "what do i look for in tool marks on jade?" I had mentioned this article,
The identification of carving techniques on Chinese jade [An article from: Journal of Archaeological Science]
Author: M. Sax, N.D. Meeks, C. Michaelson, A.P. Middleton
Publisher: Elsevier

Previously,
The closest thing to an answer that I received came from Anita who said tool marks are too complicated, and what do you mean �hand tools?� I was shown many pictures of jades that showed modern tool marks, and frankly what I saw was that the main way to Identify modern tool is through studying the poor craftsmanship and sloppy work. I do not doubt that
A real artist when working with modern power tools could create a beautiful piece of jade art that DOES contain That feeling of life-breath.
I do not believe that the value of a jade is to be judged by the "grade" of stone itself but
what the creaftsman artist was able to reveal in
the stone. I would rather own a beautifully carved soapstone than a sloppy carving in white jade.
Now after some basic research in the above
article here you go:

There are 6 methods of carving jade,
1:Drilling
2:Wheel cutting
3:Sawing
4:Flexible string sawing
5:Riffling
6:Point or blade abrasion

There are 6 different abrasives used for carving jade,
1:Quartz
2:Almandine Garnet
3:Corundum
4:Carborundum
5:Diamond

6:Polishing, done using a combination of carborundum, silt, water
And applied to bamboo wood or leather tools.

Powered tools have been used for thousands of years.
A spinning motion is created in a number of ways,
With a bow and string that when moved back and forth spins the
shaft on which the tool tip has been added., or foot powered
wheels similar to a treadle which then rotated the tool.
Each of these tools leaves a signature in the jade. The article shows through the use Scanning
Electron microscope images, how to identify
each of these methods of carving. The illustarations are very clear.
Also a video was referenced from Chinese Cultural Tv. The book version just came out in English, CHINESE JADE SACRED IMPERIAL AND CIVIL
FORMS by Yu Ming. I received my copy yesterday
and the illustrations on the use of different
tools in jade carving are very informative.

Dear John:

Thank you for your detailed posting to my thread and it shows you are dedicated to the study of jade especilly on different jade working techniques that were employed in the making of archaic and modern jade carvings.

We are well aware of the article mentioned by you because at one time Anita had troubles in getting that article and I sent her one.

However, I must caution you in not depending 100% on that article regarding jade working techniques because initially they selected nine jade carvings for study but eliminated one that was not nephrite and they had troubles in confirming another one as nephrite until it was cleaned. I do not understand why they would elimate any non-nephrite jade carvings because non-nephrite material were indeed used in the making of archaic or Neolithic jade carvings in China.

Furthermore, all these jade working techniques were observed by studying a wide range of jade carvings, from Neolithic to Ming/Qing dynasty. Also the number of the jade carving included were simply not large enough to provide an accurate picture of all the jade working techniques used in this large time span. There were supposedly seven (or eight?) changes of tu (disc tool) during this time span in China and they would leave different types of tool marks on jade carvings.

Also, the six types of abrasives you quoted from the article actually came from the book "Chinese Carved Jade" written by Prof. S. Howard Hansford and I believe Margaret Sax did attribute as such.

In Prof. Hansford's book, these abrasives were listed under Modern Jade Carving methods because abrasive such as diamond was imported into China and might not be used in ancient China for polishing. (*Prof. Hansford said the use of diamond was very limited in the working of jade in China and he has a section in discussing it, you should obtain this book and his other book "Chinese Jade Carvings" if you are serious about learning the different jade working methods used in China.)

I do not recalle I mention "hand tools" in my message. I usually called them manual tools to differentiate them from tools that are powered by electricity.

I believe hand tools would be those tools that were used by one hand (usually) while the jade carving is hold by another hand. Such as a rasp or blade using in "Point or Blade" abrasion.

You said, "Powered tools have been used for thousands of years." You have to be careful what you meant by power tools. Powered by hand or powered by electricity?

Professor said rotary tools used in wheet-cutting were not invented until the Iron Age because bronze is simply not hard enough to be used as rotary tools. However, tu (disc type) made of stone or other non-metal material were used during Neolithic time and Mr. Boda Yang did say rotary "powered" tool (or tool machine) were found during early Chinese dynasties (not powered by foot, but powered by hand). Therefore, it was indeed very difficult to understand tool marks or jade working tools that were available during archaic time. We must define exactly what "power tools", "rotary tools". "rotary tool machine" are before we can even discuss jade working tehniques of tools.


Therefore, Anita's saying that "tool marks are too complicated", I cannot agree with her more.
Even modern tool marks are some times extremely difficult to identify and agreed on by different jade collectors.

I am sorry I do not agree with you in:

"the main way to Identify modern tool is through studying the poor craftsmanship and sloppy work"

While this may be true some time, but
according to Prof. S Hansford, the quality of the working techniques shown on jade carvings, some time did not truly depend on the jade working tools or even truly reflect their true ages, but simply depend on the skills of the artisans. Therefore, holes drilled at Neolithic time by bamboo drill can be better than those made later with metal drills. On the other hand, some modern jade carvings, made with electrical high speed jade working tools can be made better in quality than those that were made at ancient time. For example, if you look at some of the Cu Da Ming (Ming dynasty carvings) jade carvings, that seem to be made very crude and poorly (they did not focus in details) but they would be indeed ancient Chinese jades.

While is true that the quality of jade is not eveything especially if its carving quality is inferior, however, jade is defined as "any stones that are beautiful" in China and should possess the five virtues (please check prvious message posted in the forum for them).

In general, for any stones to be called jade it should have good color (no mixed color), pure (no impurities or inclusions), hard (cannot be scratched), translucent, beautiful sound (sound almost like metal), etc.

Therefore, according to the Chinese, the only jade that possesses all these virtues is Hetian jade.

The highest grade of hetian jade would be:

Mutton-fat
White
White with a slight greent tint
Celadon
Yellow (very rare)
Black

(*Of course, everybody may have different opinions regarding the above, I simply quoted what are generally believed)

Unfortunately, there is no scientific method yet to judge what Hetian jade or mutton-fat jade are.

According to most Chinese jade literature, it will take a novice ten years or longer to learn about jade working techniques but only 3-5 years to learn about jade material.

I applaud your enthusiasm in learning more about jade working tehcniques, however if you do not believe jade material is important and therefore neglect the study of it, I am afraid you will miss a lot in the learning of Chinese jade carvings. Different jade material were used in different dynasties in making jade carvings, due to the religious, political and economic situation during that dynasty. Very often, local jades (from vicinity) were used in the making of "burial jades" due to the large demand of jade material in a short time period and the difficulty in transporting them. Therefore, not all archaic Chinese jade carvings would be made of nephrite.

Jadeite was not considered as "jade" and was not used till the middle of Qing dynasty. Therefore, if there is an authentic Ming dynasty jadeite carving for sales, you better stay away from it with a 3-foot pole.

Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Bill,
Thank you for the additional information.
As an avid student of Chinese art I do realize
that after 5,000 years plus in the making, I
will not live long enough to learn all that I
should, but that won't stop me from trying.
When I used the term powered tools, I did mean
powered with a bow or a treadle. The patience and
time that it took to carve any hard stone is an
amazing feat. I do particularly like stones with
inclusions that seem to add life and vision to
the finished sculpture. I do have a copy of
Berthold Laufer's book on Jade, and have used it for reference. I am having trouble finding more
information on Cu Da Ming jades. Can you get a
link or suggest a book. I can always interlibrary
loan. I have heard that Joseph Needham had
illustrated jade carving in his Chinese Civilization series. In looking at some jades
I have noticed that when using riffling techniques, the stone presents the artist with
a tougher than normal spot causing a bump or
shift in the cut path. Also it seems that when
electric tools with diamond bits are used, every
movement and variation in the cut is recorded,
if the carver is not skilled these cuts detract
from the overall finished stone. I have seen some
beautiful modern works in jade made with these
electric tools in the hands of a true craftsman
with vision. [timeless jade website]for example.
I will be submitting two more jades soon, one
that is severely oxidized, and one that is
calcified. It should spark some interesting
comments.
Thank you again for sharing your time and knowledge
John

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