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Subject:Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Sat, Feb 28, 2009 IP: 74.178.250.93

The forum has been home recently to some teeth-gnashing about jade, particularly what is found selling on the internet. We're lucky to have experts at hand, such as Anita, who not only knows the geology of the stones but also appreciates jade fully in its cultural and artistic contexts.

I lack such scholarly grounding myself but do own a few decent jades. The one offered for discussion here is an authenticated example of late Ming carving. It is a censer in the form of the qilin, or mythical Chinese unicorn. It was first evaluated about three decades ago by an internationally recognized authority with retail bases in Asia and the USA.

Among the characteristics that I believe separate this censer from modern carvings is its simple elegance. The carving of most secondary external features, such as flaming clouds and the "ruyi" pendant on the neck is well-defined but shallow, intentionally so, I think, to preserve the precious material itself and avoid detracting from the full measure of spirit devoted to the remainder of the beast. Modern carvers would have been tempted to extend the flames out from the body, or to indulge themselves in more elaborate openwork than is present here.

Moreover, I'm convinced that most modern carvers possess an incomplete grasp of classical Chinese artistic esthetics. The artist who carved this qilin from jade probably believed in it, or at least in the spiritual values that it symbolized. Such a personal relationship between artist and subject matter obviously is not always the case in the modern world.

Technically, I believe this carving differs from the average modern softstone reproduction by its unctuous look, with a glow that resembles that of freshly oiled fine hardwood furniture. There is no trace of modern emory or carborundum tool marks. Every surface of the piece has been evenly polished, right down to the spaces between the toenails. Where the head and shoulders meet, the small flakes that have popped off from use have come away clean, without the powdering so typical of soapstone.

Perhaps Anita or others can point out some additional differences that I take for granted.

For those interested, what we refer to as "qilin" actually are two auspicious beasts, The male is called "qi" and the female "lin." To avoid killing anything, a qilin doesn't walk on grass or eat living food. Qilin typically have hooves like those of horses, whereas this one is depicted with leonine claws. I welcome comment on why.

I'll upload some other photos as soon as this is posted.

Regards,

Bill H



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Photo 2



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Photo 3



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Olivia Tue, May 13, 2014

I send a second picture, where you will see the amazing green of my qilin, i think it is jade...?
Don t worry cause i read on a wb site that the qilin is with or without scales, it depends! ;) And with or without hooves too!
It have 2 horns or only one like your and mine, like unicorn! :D
It is a lucky animal, for woman wants to have à baby boy! :D
That s why we can see boys on qilin sometimes!

Sorry for my bad english!



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Photo 4



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill Sat, Mar 07, 2009

While I have to admit that this piece posted by Bill H here is much better than your average jade pieces being posted in this forum and the fact that the carving techniques employed on it is also much superior, I am not totally convinced that it would be a late Ming piece just because "it was first evaluated about three decades ago by an internationally recognized authority with retail bases in Asia and the USA." A good reminder would be a jade expert/writer's recent attempt in showing some of the jade pieces he was trying to sell not too long ago. He used reference from his own book as support for the authenticity of his piece. Only later found that most of his pieces might not be as he attributed.

It is not that I can say for sure that this piece cannot be a late Ming jade piece as Bill H said. However, I believe he would need to provide more evidence, reference and support for such an attribution. There would be no doubt that, if he would pay a substantial sum (that is my assumption, of course) for such a piece from an "internationally recognized authority", then such an authority would have done a lot of researches and presented their findings on this piece just like Christie's or Sotheyby's would when they were auctioning their jade carvings in order to convince Bill H to part with his money. Therefore, I would appreciate very much if Bill H would share what had convinced him that this was indeed a late Ming piece.

Now, in my novice's viewpoints, several things about this Ming piece puzzled me and may be other members can help me out here.

First of all, I do not like its material. It looks to be nephrite but yet it has so many natural fissures inside the texture of this piece. Apparently this piece was a burial piece because you see crack lines (right side of its body and on the right side of its head)with 沁色 (Qin se - color diffusion) which was supposedly resulted from long burial. Why would such a pretty large buried piece be made with such inferior nephrite material? While it is true that some smaller late Ming jade piece were made with inferior jade material or lesser stones, especially those that were found in concubines' tombs. This piece looks quite large but yet it was made with this type of lesser material? Also, why would anybody bury a jade censor in a Qilin or chimera form? Can we find any similar examples of similar pieces being found in any Mong tombs?
If you compare the material of this piece with that of Anita's celadon Han jade dragon, you would see what I meant.

Second thing that puzzles me is its luster. By late Ming, the polishing techniques for jade carvings was quite advanced and the luster found on their jade pieces were quite spectacular. As a matter of fact, if you would compare the celadon Han dragon posted here by Anita with Bill H's jade chimera you would see what I meant. Do you not see the nice natural "gem" luster on Anita's jade dragon? Comparing it with that found on Bill H's piece, can you see the difference? Of course, it is possible that due to lighting Bill H used to take pictures of his chimera, it may affect its luster. If that is the case, I would like to apologize in advance.

Some jade collectors have the misconception that you can create such natural luster on a jade carving by "waxing" it. This is simply incorrect. Nice luster on jade carvings are the direct results of advanced polishing techniques being employed on superior quality material (such as Hetian nephrite jade).

The third thing that truly puzzle me in regard to Bill H's piece are the crack lines and diffused color of the crack lines found on his chimera.
Many Chinese jade collectors are currently using two important criteria in attributing archaic jades pieces - 綹裂 (liu lie) (crack lines or crack tufts) and 沁色 (Qin se - color diffusion).

Recently we had a pretty nice discussion about crack lines found on jades in the other forum:

http://www.chicochai.com/jadeforum/read.php?forum=1&id=34311

Basically, according to many Chinese jade experts, buried archaic jades should have some types of crack tufts filled with diffused color (stain).

(Crack tuft � usually a breakage caused by the external pressure during formation of jade in a complicated geological environment. Mostly under the surface appearing as web lines. Can be seen by bare eyes. There is brown or black filling inside the line. May not be felt by tip of finger nail. This will affect the durability.)

The reasons such crack tufts were formed are:

"There are many causes for the formations of 綹裂 crack tuft (liu lie). It was possible that during the burial, a jade carving was accidentally dropped on the floor (hard ground) and resulted in the formation of such crack lines; it was possible that such crack lines were formed when the jade piece was accidentally dropped during excavation; the possibility of such crack lines being formed due to high pressure during burial in soil also exists. There were some jade carvings that did not have such crack lines when they were first excavated, however crack lines would then be formed and appeared on them later. The reason for this is because after a long burial underground, the jade carving was under excruciating pressure exerted on it by the soil in which it was buried, a counter-pressure was created and remained inside the jade carving (I guess it would be like diving in deep sea), once the jade carving was excavated, its inner pressure was allowed to be released and therefore new crack lines would be formed as a result. We would call such crack lines 裂纹 (lie wen) or Crack Lines because we would like to distinguish them from 裂纹 (lie wen)) or Crack Tufts."

However, in order for color diffusion (or color stain) to be seen inside these craft tufts, the cracks must occur either before burial or during burial, so that color elements from the soil seeped through this crack tufts into the jade structure during the burial.

The things that disturb me about the one long crack line found on Bill H's jade chimera's right side body (originated from the top of the top edge to the middle of its body)are:

(1) I do not like the look of the crack line. The crack line itself was wide open (too much space in between)and does not look natural, almost like it was artificially made. Naturally occurred crack lines or crack tufts should not be that wide-open. Some times you can hardly feel them even with your finger tips.

(2) I do not like the look of its color diffusion because there are no 沁脉 (qin mai ━ color veins)found anywhere around this crack line.
If you compare the crack line found on Bill H's chimera with those found on Anita's Han dragon, you can see the main difference.

On Bill H's chimera, the crack line can be clearly seen when it began and when it ended, the crack space of the crack line is very huge, it is a single line without any type of diffusion and no color veins can be seen around the crack lines.

On the other side, the crack lines found on Anita's dragon did not seem to have large crack space, it is hard to detect where they begin and end (natural crack line should look like that), but most importantly of all, you can see the color being spread from the main crack lines(at its left bottom) into color veins (like color pockets).

The main difference is, when an archaic piece with crack tufts was buried for a long time in the soil, then the color elements in the soil would slowly sip through these crack tufts and started spreading (diffusion) into the rest of the jade texture (like a big river spread into many small streams). This would take a long time of burial to achieve this phenomenon and it is very difficult to fake.

On the other side, artificially made crack lines (on jade) (by heating and cooling, frying, etc.) are very difficult to stain and due to insufficient time, such artificial staining would not be able to diffuse into the rest of the jade texture.

Now of course, I am no expert and everything I said here can be wrong. I am only quoting what I learned from some of the Chinese jade experts and to share them with other jade collectors.

It would be very possible the jade chimera posted here by Bill H is indeed a genuine late Ming dynasty piece. I only believe he should present more reference, evidence or support so that we may see how he arrives such a conclusion and not based solely on the fact that "it was first evaluated about three decades ago by an internationally recognized authority with retail bases in Asia and the USA." As a matte of fact, as more and more ancient tombs were being excavated in the last 20 years in China and through the studies of the archaic jades found inside these tombs, we now have better understandings on archaic jades than 30 years ago and very often we learn that some of the expert opinions regarding jade pieces that were expressed a while ago are simply not valid any more.

Thank you.

Bill



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: wingchuntaiji Tue, Mar 17, 2009

Dear All,

This is definitely not a Qilin as Qilin has scales and hooves. Some people may called this a Tian Lu, but it is more correctly called a Pi Xiu 貔貅 because of its distinctive banana leave/fan like tail, over-sized ears and funny face. Pi Xiu symbolizes a loyal small mythical beast that wards off bad lucks and brings in wealth. It eats everything that include bad spirits and evil animals. Its favorable food is money and gold. Pi Xiu has no anus, therefore it sumbolizes building wealth that brings good luck to the gamblers and the owner's business.

This is a very nice and old item! Take good care of it!

Randy Li

Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Anita Mui Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Dear Bill H

You may have photo of the horns, they may be ears, and your animal may be a Ming pussy cat fu dogs.

Kilin with lion/tiger paws is not Kilin, it called Ki, a male unicorn.

A Ki unicorn is put in the house, bedroom, scholar table to boost the Yang and/or whatever places dictated by Feng Shui Master. It is believed to stimulate masculine Qi, nourish the fire, boost endurance, and bring all the components of male sexuality / power/ energy to the owner.

If you have enough time, you may find Kilin on any form of Chinese art from the Song to the Qing, and see the development, and then you can date the period of exactly the closest time your thing was made.

By the way, I have no idea on this kind of censor made of bronze or jade without holes in the body, how can the oxygene get to the burning coiled/coned incense inside the body?..why no holes for air to pass through? Even you put coiled/coned incense to burn in drinking glass, it surely distingish within a minute.

Will go in detail of your piece later..I'm so sleepy.

Have fun
Anita



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Anita,

I believe the last of my later photos will show how the incense gets enough air to burn. The Qilin's mouth is open so smoke can escape and air is able to circulate for sustained combustion.

Many thanks,

Bill H

Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Anita mui Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Dear Bill H

Attached is a Han "Ki" from our collection. It has one horn, bull's nose, stag's ears, horse body, cicada's wings-like tail hair with tiger paws. It blows fire from its mouth, but my friends said it is a dragon not a Ki.

Have fun
Anita



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Mar 02, 2009

Anita,

Thank you so much for all of your scholarly input.

I wonder if your Han "Ki" might not be what some of my references call a "Chimera." There are two related chimeric creatures among carved stone beasts that line the approach to the Ming tombs. Unlike the Qilin, which can float above the ground by the sheer power of its goodness, both of them have wings. One Chinese website describes them as follows:

"Tianlu (heavenly emolument) and Bixie (evil dispeller) are two Chinese mythological animals that herald in good fortune and keep evil at bay. Both look like a lion except for their wings--the one with only one horn on his head is Tianlu and the one with two horns is Bixie. During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), the images of both animals were for ornamentation purposes. Sculptures of them were placed in front of tombs to suggest the dignity and power and authority the deceased enjoyed in their lifetime. As symbols of bravery and immunity to evil, the two animals are meant for those aspiring to ascend to heaven to ride on."

Thanks again,

Bill H


Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Daryl Tan Tue, Mar 03, 2009

Hi Anita,

There are examples of Ming incense burner in bronze form.There is an opening at the mouth of the censer where the smokes comes out.Once lit,the incense will burn inside the body and the smoke expelled via the mouth as though the beast is breathing fire.The shape and design looks identical to Ming but as i am not well versed in jade,I cannot say for sure this jade is from Ming.

Daryl

Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Anita Mui Thu, Mar 05, 2009

Dear Bill H

Chinese mystical beasts somehow created very much confused of their identity.

For example:-

Chimera / Qilin

The Chinese chimera, also referred to as a qilin, was created during the Han Dynasty and lasted deep into the Ming Dynasty. This particular sculpture is carved out of stone and completed with very intricate details. It has been sculpted to stand on all fours with its head lifted, mouth open, and chest pushed out. However, there are all sorts of chimera sculptures, each carved differently. For example, some sculptures are in a standing position, a sitting position, or even in a resting position. This sculpture was carved to look intimidating, threatening, and was even believed to be a real beast. For instance, Paludan mentions that when a giraffe was brought to China, it was mistaken to be a chimera.


What is most noticeable about the Chinese chimera is that is represents the fantastic because it is a mythical creature made up of several parts of animals. According to Dorothy Perkins, this includes �the body of a deer, the tail of a cow, the neck of a wolf, the head of the dragon and the legs and hooves of a horse�. On the other hand, according to another writer, it is composed of the body of an antelope, the tail of an ox and horns. This clearly shows that the chimera has no distinct representation.


The chimera is categorized as a funerary sculpture because the context for which it was created was for the Chinese Spirit Road. The main reason as to why the chimera has an aggressive pose is because it is believed that the chimera, among other sculptures lining the spirit road, had a duty to protect and guard a tomb. Even though this sculpture may seem daunting, in the eyes of the Chinese, it is looked at as �symbolizing benevolence and kindness,� which are important values of Confucianism. It is also believed that the chimera will bring good luck to the emperor. Therefore, the chimera is tied to the Chinese Confucianism tradition.

Nick Anderson, Art 259 Fall 2004

Source:-
http://www.stolaf.edu/courses/2004sem1/Art_and_Art_History/259/ArtsChina/chimera.html

------------------------
I was once told by the old men who like to sit in the park playing with their birds in the cages (now no more allowed to bring your birds to the parks, because of bird flu plaque), and show off their jades collection. They talked a lot about what they know of, and what their fathers told them. They mentioned that Tianlu, and Chimera is the same, but people from the north called Tianlu and from the Central Plain called Chimera or Bixie. Those with one horn is actually has 2 horns. the one horn is like branch of tree that separated into 2. Tianlu and Chimera can fly, with wings or without wings, it doesn't matter. So as to the dragons, they can stay in the sky without wings, swimimg in the ocean without fins...that what you can immagine.

Once the Silk road was formally opened, the cultures from the west had come to China, Persian flying lions, horses, and Roman angel with wings somehow have influance in Han art. Many Chinese beasts started to have "wings".

This is the debate that whom you believe, the books or what "my father told me"..offcourse we have to believe in Books and research of scholars.

---------------------
Another beast to talk to is "Nian", but it is a bad guy who is nowaday become lion dance comes with fire crackers, laughing buddha and laughing buddha woman..you will see that the legend has changed through time, the origin story, and concept of traditional practise are sometime different.

-------------------------
Nian the Monster

The Spring Festival is the grandest festival for the Chinese. The Spring Festival is also called "Nian", but who knows the term, Nian, was once the name of a furious monster that lived on human beings in the ancient time. How the Festival has some relationship with the monster lies in a story about the origin and development of the Spring Festival.

The legend says, long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ugly and ferocious, which looked like either dragons or unicorns. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming.
There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks in purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it.
At a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth at people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldn't stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people.
Since then, people have kept the tradition by beating drums and gongs, and lighting fireworks at the coldest day in winter to drive the imagined monsters away and to celebrate the victory over it. Today, Nian refers to the New Year's day or the Spring Festival. People often say Guo Nian, which means 'live the festival.' Furthermore, Nian also means the year. For an example, the Chinese often greet each other by saying Xin Nian Hao, which means Happy New Year! Xin means new and Hao means good.

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/

------------------------
About burning incense, if it is too deep to put incense in it, the incense can not be burn. You may have to put incense burning stand made of iron inside the body of the lion to push up the incense very near to the mouth.

Have fun
Anita






URL Title :Nian


Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Anita Mui Fri, Mar 06, 2009

Dear Bill H

Tianlu or Chimera?

1 horn or 2 horns?

Have fun
Anita



Subject:Re: Late Ming Nephritic Jade Censer of Qilin Form
Posted By: Olivia Tue, May 13, 2014

Hi guys i just bought this wonderful carved stone statue!
It is very similar of yours!
Could somebody confirme me that! :)
I m sûre that it is a qilin, because i see the corn on heads and flames typical of this mythological animal! It is a double qilin! :)
10 inch.
But about mine the man saled it to me as a fu dog and soap stone!
This amazing green leave me a big doubt!
Is it jade? Because i never saw green soap stone.

Someone please could tell me if it is 18th or 19th, and what is it? Censer? Water pot?

Thanks guys!

Best regards from Paris.




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