Asian Art Forums - Reply Message

Asian Art Forums

Group: Message Board

Re: Mercury Colouring

Posted By: wingchuntaiji
Posted Date: Feb 11, 2009 (01:27 PM)

Message
I 'll talk about the different Keng-types of burials that the traditional jade collectors attribute under a new thread.

We need to know the difference between Da Keng(large burial) and Xiao Keng(small burial). Da Keng were for the imperial family and high-ranking officials especially those who were given land and titles of King, Duke, Marquise, Count, Viscount, Barron, etc. Xiao Keng were for wealthy tycoons. Poor people might not even have jade in their burials.

The ancient people used a much larger volume of liquid mercury in a Da Keng. They used smaller amount of mercury in a Xiao Keng. The liquid mercury sank to the bottom of the burials, thus staining the jades. The degree of black mercury permeation indicates the kind of burial and the age of the jades. Most Hei Qi Gu should weigh heavier than the jades that have no permeation because mercury is a dense mineral that increases the weight of the jades after the permeation.

Hei Qi Gu or jades with heavy mercury permeation(those that were not fully-absorbed with mercury but show windows of the original material were mostly from Da Keng. For the jades that only show sporadic tiny spots of dark mercury permeation or no mercury permeation, they were mostly from Xiao Keng.

The intensity of the mercury permeation indicates the age of the jade. Mercury were widely used since Xia, Shang and Zhou. The Tang Hei Qi Gu usually appear less intense than the Han or Warring States Hei Qi Gu because the longer the permeation, the more intense the color. Song and Yuan Hei Qi Gu appear even lighter in color.

Understand these things can help identify and determine the age of jade. Artificial black dye would fade and left behind the dye that trapped in the veins of fissures of the jades. Real Hei Qi Gu has a crisp hand feel just like other Sheng Keng when dry. Artificial dye or painted black color on the jade surface do not feel the same. Anyway, an old jade and a jade with new work do not feel the same in the hand!

Note that we are now reviewing postings before posting due to the large volume of SPAM and inappropriate postings on the forum. The validation process may take up to 12 hours.

Post a Reply
Name:
Email:
Group:	Message Board
Subject:
Message:
Link URL:	Enter here the complete URL of any site, page or image you would like to show other visitors.
URL Title:	Enter here the title of the link you've given above. This will appear to the visitor. Eg., if you are linking another picture, enter "Another picture". The link will not appear without a title.
Image URL:	Enter here the URL of an image if it is already uploaded on the web. The image will appear with your posting. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post.
Image:	You may upload up to three images. If you would like to upload more images to this message please do so by replying to this same message. Please make sure the file type is JPEG or GIF and the filename does not contain spaces. Use the Browse button to find an image (jpg or gif) on a local drive on your computer to upload for including with your message. Do not upload images with file names containing spaces. Please do not upload files larger than 500 KB in size. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post. Check the "email notification" box below if you would like to be notified of any responses to your message. Check here for email notification.
Security Code:	Please type in the code you see in the image directly above this input box.

Responses:

Re: Re: Mercury Colouring - Mike - Feb 12, 2009 (06:39 AM)