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Mircea Veleanu

Posted By: Jon Edwards
Posted Date: Apr 30, 2009 (09:18 PM)

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I happened on to this website after doing a search on Anthony M. Lee, who impressed me over 15 years ago with his knowledge and insights in Asian Art. I have been a collector of Pre Columbian and Chinese jade for over 40 years. I'd like to offer the following suggestion to new and inexperienced collectors: read, study, even memorize the material in James Watt's books, especially for the "Han to Ching" periods. Do the same with Jessica Rawson for archaic jades. Know the work of Yang Boda, whom I had the privilege of showing pictures from my jade collection in 1987 when he was curator of art at the Gugong in Beijing, but relatively unknown in the West. Study all of the pictures in publications on jade by the Min Chieu Society in Hong Kong, who count among their illustrious collectors the likes of Sir Joseph Hotung, who formed his collection (now in the Hotung wing of the British Museum) under the guidance of Robert Ellsworth and Jessica Rawson. And yes, the founder of this forum, Anthony Lee.

I once asked James Watt which reference books written prior to the 70s he recommended, and he replied, "none." I would make Howard Hansford the exception, as time has proven he was right most of the time, from Shang forward, at a time when The National Palace Museum afforded him the only contact with Chinese scholars who had access to the great wealth of jade taken from China by Chang Kai Chek. Laufer, given as a source of corroboration by Veleanu is the opposite: his work has been largely discredited, and that may explain some of Veleau's misrepresentations.

I commend Bill, Roger, and Randy! They were impressively on target in regard to M. Veleanu, especially Roger. I prefer to think that he/she(?) has been driven by ignorance and hubris, rather than blatant misrepresentation and larceny. The largest percentage of the jade published in her self-promoting and misinformed book were to be found in the Hong Kong jade market for years before China opened and a greater expertise for reproductions and access to Hotien nephrite came about. The brownish (probably bowenite or serpentine) chime piece she sought unsuccessfully to gain support for being Shang, is especially unconvincing. Randy had it right that jade which was selected for its sonorous quality was particularly pure as the freedom from inclusions, the mineralogical homogeneity, allowed the unmistakable clear tone that along with tactile and visual appeal made jade the substance of the senses. High value dictated that the stone not be cut any thicker than absolutely necessary for tonal quality, and, again, mineralogical purity meant cellular cohesion that allowed thinner cuts. Chimes in the carpenters square shape of her jade piece are best known, if memory serves me, in ritual pieces in bronze, along with the large studded bells. The only jade pieces of that shape I can remember without research are much later pieces in Lake Baikal type spinach green jade with gilt filled inscriptions.

Veleanu is correct, however, when she writes that jade from time to time was treated alchemically and ritually with cinnabar and mercury, the apparent transubstantiation from liquid to solid must have fascinated and stimulated their belief in the physical transformation of Shamans and ghosts just as the long incubation and "resurrection" of the cicada represented rebirth.

Veleanu's pieces, however, look more like the "fritters" researched by Hansford, who described their surface alteration as being due to heat (to disaggregate the surface crystals as stated by Randy) and subsequent contamination with dark oily substances, sometimes even mercury, which left a black, irregular, superficial saturation unlike the much deeper penetration of true burial pieces. And I wonder if she tested her chime for hardness as if appears like so many pieces of softer, jade imitates. Granted, a truly degraded surface will not pass the scratch test, but a pointed steel probe in an inconspicuous place, such as edge, will find a hardness level below the surface of nephrite, while with bowenite and serpentine, it will probe deeper and deeper.

Veleanu perpetuates the false "driftwood" concept that archaic jade must appear defaced or "weathered" by age. When I first started collecting Pre Columbian jadeite, I was amazed to find that the finest pieces carved in "emerald green" (Museum of Natural History, NY, and Mexico City; Dumbarton Oaks Museum, Washington) very often had the luster and polish that appeared as if it had just been done, even though they often were found in the earth, where they had been sacrificed to the gods of fertility and harvest. And even though nephrite is slightly softer and doesn't take a glossy polish like jadeite, I was equally surprised to see pieces, especially white and light celadon ones, that looked equally as pristine from dry tombs in China when I went there in 1986-87. Bob Frey, who founded "Friends of Jade" along with Robert Dean, incidentally, paid me a visit at the Central Academy of Fine Art at that time, and he had the opportunity to see some of these pieces as well.

In conclusion, Veleanu's chime, like most of the pieces she offers for sale on the internet (Go Antiques, I think) are unlike any authentic pieces I've seen in museums, reputable publications, or personal experience. Novice collectors beware.

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Responses:

Re: Mircea Veleanu - Bill - May 01, 2009 (09:08 PM)
- Let's compare Mircea's jade qing to a Shang item...... - wingchuntaiji - May 08, 2009 (11:14 PM)
  - Need help to see if they are Hong Shan Jade - Chinkang - Mar 16, 2014 (05:27 AM)