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- A P P E N D IX II
The Problem of Antiquarian Jades
During the Song dynasty (960-1279) ancient jades of the remote past were so sought after by the Chinese that expert craftsmen set to work carving ancient style jade objects in response to the demand. The imitating of ancient style jades (archaism) would continue to be popular throughout the Yuan (1271 -1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
However, carving in the archaistic style should not be confused with the actual �doctoring� of the jade-stone to give the appearance of age, and faithful copying of early styles.
Because nephrite has a fibrous structure, it lends itself to chemical impregnation, both natural and artificial. Therefore, over the centuries huge numbers of fabricated ancient jades have been made to satisfy the great demand for ancient jades by the Chinese. According to Howard Hansford, the market for these pieces was usually provided by Chinese of modest means who were captivated by the mystique of the material, and liked to have what they believed to be old jade about their house.1
It is not known when this doctoring of jades first began, but by late Ming times it had become extremely popular. This art of fabricating antique jades would flourish during the Qing dynasty, especially under the reign of Qianlong (1736-95), who actively encouraged the carving of fake antique jades. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries great numbers of these were made and sold as authenticate antique jade in China.
Ancient jade artifacts, which have been buried in the ground for many centu�ries, sometimes react with the minerals in the soil. In some cases, excavated jade is decomposed or calcified and has lost its jade appearance, taking on a stone�like character (this is sometimes called tuo tai). In this altered state, the jade be�comes softer and scratches easily. In other cases, only part of the jade artifact de�composes, while the remainder retains its jade characteristics. In less serious cases a light brown skin (Jiangrou pi) or date-skin red ( hong) appears on the jade, which was probably due to impregnation with iron oxides in the soil. A parrot green colour (yingge lu) may result from the corrosion of bronze objects, which were placed next to the jades in tombs.2
Chemicals released as a result of the decomposition of the corpses after burial can cause a blackish stain to appear on the jade. Jade pieces can be made to cal�cify or look calcified very quickly by burying them in quicklime with dead animals, by boiling them in honey, or by use of various acids. Instead of doctoring the jade- stone, the jade carver can try to select material which has similar characteristics to old or calcified jade. During the Ming dynasty, the jade carvers tried to accomplish this by selecting jade with certain colours like greenish-yellow and onion skin colour or jade with mixed colours, which helped to give the impression of age. Sometimes low grade jade with flaws and spots or even coloured stone with jade-like features were chosen. Since looks can be so deceiving, science has had to be used to deter�mine if an artifact is actually jade. These methods include polarizing microscopes, X-ray diffraction cameras and electron microprobe analyzers.
There are all sorts of other methods used to give jade the patina and semblance of old age. It took a special skill and intelligence to create �antique� jades, and this art has been passed on from master to pupil from generation to generation. The
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