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Subject:Re: Liangzhu Carvings on Cow Bone...
Posted By: Scott Alexander Fri, Nov 27, 2015
Thank, you "Super", for your thoughts.
(1) Your suggestion as to the radiocarbon dating is very pertinent - I see that I could get it dated at Arizona AMS for $600; is anyone aware of other reputable labs which might be less expensive?
(2) One item you mention - that even good fake Liangzhu jade pieces are hard to come by; I do disagree on this point. You can see quite a "passable" Lianzhu pieces on eBay, and pictures of factories where they churn out fake Liangzhu Congs can also be found (e.g. http://hoffmanjade.com/Fig%2008%20Fake%20Factory%20-%20Many%20Congs%20sm.jpg).
(3) I don't believe that there are many (if any) folks making good quality fake Liangzhu cow bones with the Taotie faces (and I think there's probably a reason for that). Even though cow bone is easier to carve than stone, the bone is not not a flat surface and I believe much polishing would need to be done by hand, to come up with a good fake (without obvious machine tool marks). I look at this bone and try to imagine how long it would take me to carve and polish, with a rotating dremel tool. I'd have to be be very careful not to accidently remove the raised portion of the bone as I'm carving and polishing the recessed portions... I believe that it would take a long time, even with modern tools (not to say that it couldn't be done, of course).
This could be a fake piece that someone decided to spend a lot of time to make, but in looking at the detail of the carving: the quality of the polishing is there, the esquisite detail of the Taotie faces is there, the almost microscopic fine parallel lines are there, it's very symetrical, carved and polished consistently all the way around. If you don't see that would be difficult, we can certainly agree to disagree.
SOURCES on LIANGZHU and ARCHAIC CHINESE JADES
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[1] Real or Fake Jades
http://hoffmanjade.com/real_or_fake_figs.html)
[2] China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land, edited by Robert E. Murowchick, Section titled "Liangzhu Congs"
https://books.google.com/books?id=tO42ZlxKf4cC&pg=PA66&dq=%22liangzhu+culture%22+cong+jade&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihneqr1rHJAhWSlYgKHQuZAxwQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22liangzhu%20culture%22%20cong%20jade&f=false
[3] The Smithsonian's Museum of Asian Arts, section on Ancient Chinese Jades
http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/china/jades/default.asp
[4] Digital Taiwan - Culture and Nature, Chinse Jades Through the Ages
http://culture.teldap.tw/culture/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26id%3D1960:art-in-quest-of-heaven-and-truth-chinese-jades-through-the-ages
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