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Subject:antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: james Tue, Jun 24, 2014 IP: 192.114.23.208

hi
i have this jade or other hard stone piece (i tasted it with a knife and docent scratch ) it is carved very nice with an elephant on it , there is a silver band all around it maybe for protection , and on the back there are 3 sets of 2 holes that looks like they are hand drilled , i have to say i do not know a lot about it but i do know it came from my family collection and they bought it in the early 1900's
and i wanted to know if someone can tell me what is its age and origin (the size is around 10 cm)







Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: Ernest Wilhelm Wed, Jun 25, 2014

Use a strong needle to scratch..there will be a scratch visible!!! You just have to use enough pressure, and make a 2-3 mm scratch.
From the poor quality picture one can see very little !!!
It definitely isn't Jade
Ernest

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: adam Sat, Jun 28, 2014

I am undecided on this one...Certain things are good... The elephant looks right for Ming-18th Century (Later they just couldn't capture the spirit) and the reverse has the typical piercing as would appear on a ming (belt?) plaque....Given their love of stained, chickenbone and burnt jades in the ming and their love of chickenbone jade in the Qing I certainly wouldnt rule jade out yet... completely....This looks to me, if I was forced to a judgement, to be a heavily burned/weathered Ming jade (belt?)plaque of elephant form (Possibly burned and/or buried)that has later been set in silver as the lid to a box (in the late 19th-early 20thC).... Now I believe the burning and severe calcification of jade effects its S.G and hardness so a scratch test and SG test will be of very little use (Unless you try a scratch test on a VERY unaltered area)..
But I certainly think the object is likely to be authentic...
PS...The pictures didnt help much, but I know from experience how hard jade is to photo accurately!!

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: LEE Tue, Jul 01, 2014

agree with Adam is most likely Ming, burned- roasted and than latter on buried with the owner. There are lots of tombs in the fields in China and most were dug up and plundered a long time ago, esp in the 1900's when there was a huge demand for jade and Chinese art.

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: adam Sun, Jul 06, 2014

Hi Lee.... Did you attend any of Mays asia week sales?....Quite disappointing sales in most auctions but Bonhams did well.
We sold a 4cm tall song dynasty carving for near £50,000 so were quite pleased!

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: Claus Mon, Jul 07, 2014

Adam: I must re-check the results of the Bonham sale. It appears that you have come a long way since buying and selling trinkets on e-bay. I recall your hoping to sell a questionable piece of stone to get enough money for a trip to a wedding in Australia.


Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: adam Tue, Jul 08, 2014

Think perhaps you are thinking of someone else...I sold a $2000 item at Christies a couple of years ago,that was gonna be my spending money while at a family wedding in Australia... there was nothing questionable about it (In fact it appeared in their video promotion for the sale)
I have never sold items via ebay .. I don't know where you got that from!
Also I have never sold at bonhams as you state in your comment...They were two seperate points in my comments, we sold our item via one of the other "big three"
Slander is a crime you know!
I have a high end inherited collection (Mostly scholars items) that date (Aside from several archaic pieces) largely from Song-Qing dynasty...
Jealously is a terrible thing!!!of both knowledge and possessions... interesting that you have no useful comments for this thread. Perhaps spend less time trying to rile others and more time reading and then you might be of some use here.. TROLL

PS We have a beautiful Ming white jade brushrest that will be in the November asian sales along with several other lower value items..

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: LEE Fri, Jul 11, 2014

Hi Adam, congratulations on the sale. 50,000 pound is a handsome sum for a song jade. Didn't attend the last Asia week in May. However I bought some had pieces from estate sales down under a Han jade cicada , a Han jade sword slide and a few pieces of Qing jade all very small and cheap pieces. Bonhams London did have a few pieces of interesting jade from old collections. The only interesting piece I bought recently is a painting from Bonhams SanFrancisco recently, a portrait dowager Cian and Guangxu sitting infront of a screen. Not sure if it is a imperial portrait or that by a studio in Shanghai or HK. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21773/lot/6456/

Subject:Re: antique chinese hard stone carving
Posted By: adam Mon, Jul 14, 2014

Hi Lee.... Yes it was one of the only items that had competetive bidding on the day, the other jade sales in this auction were muted.. (Many items were sold "post sale")
It had a pre-aucton estimate of 10-15K but everyone expected it to do more.
It was one of the most charming (and smallest!!) pieces of jade in the whole of asia week!


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