Posted By: Pipane
Posted Date: Jun 22, 2018 (11:38 AM)
Hello there,
This jade plaque is ancient, carving and patina appear to be quite old, most probably Ming dynasty to early Qing,
Plaques with auspicious symbols were very popular during Ming and Qing dynasty, they were used as lucky charms tied to one's belt : the Da Ji mark (auspiciously), the two bats (also a lucky symbol) and the central double gourd shape (huluping)...
Knot is some kind of lucky knot as Ernest mentioned..,
Material appears to have been buried for some time..., you need to perform a hardness test (scratch test) to say if it is nephrite jade or just local good quality white jade (softer)... from picture it looks quite hard so the test should not be destructive...anyway look for sharp needle and apply with force on the back of the plaque... if it is nephrite you should not be able to scratch the surface of the jade, instead you should see some stainless steel mark on the jade surface.
Finally although this piece is interesting in many ways and defenetely worth collecting, carving style and work execution looks rough compared with the finest or higher priced jade plaque.
Good pick anyway.
Regards,
pipane
