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Here is a relatively small carving of an ox or water buffalo. My impression is that is fairly modern, but nicely rendered.

I have worked with lapidary materials in the past, so my guess is that this object is either jadite or chalcedony. The finish is very high gloss. At first I thought it could be marble, but it is too translucent and resists the scratch test.

Any ideas, opinions or insights?

Thank you

Could you check the brown areas with a loupe to see if it is an artificial colouring . Also, a picture from underneath would help.
Ernest

Thanks

I will try to take a picture of the underside this weekend.

There is some detail underneath, a continuation of the overall design.

This carving must have come out of a workshop within the past 25 years.

Hi, Joel:

I believe you may be right in that this piece is made of jadeite since it has such a glossy surface.
A very nice piece. However, with such small low resolution picture I really cannot tell too much about its carving and cannot enlarge it (becomes too blur). It would be nice if you can post large pictures here.

Bill

Here are a couple of larger pictures. There appears to be some dirt in the recesses. I don't detect any damage.

Thanks!

Dear Joel

It's possibly dyed and stained jadite.

You may perfrom SG test.

Weight in air / (weight in air - weight in water)

Jadite Specific gravity (SG) = 3.30 to 3.50

Have fun
Anita Mui

Thank you for the suggestion, Anita

I don't have the equipment to perform this test, unless there is a way to perform it.

The finish of this piece is quite glossy, unlike the somewhat softer finish that one would associate with nephrite.

I'm a relative novice in this field of collecting. My interest began many years ago when a family friend, Maud Russell, gave me a book on jade carving. Maud was a secretary with the YWCA in China from 1917 to 1943. Maud was one of those "larger than life" people with almost unlimited enthusiasm and energy. She toured the US well into her eighties conducting lectures and seminars on the Peoples Republic. She was also a fiend of Madame Sun Yat Sen. She was also a noted collector of Chinese porcelain. There's a biography out on her years in China - Precious Fire: Maud Russell and the Chinese Revolution By Karen Garner.

Well, thanks again!

Joel

I'll agree with the stained Jadeite.Although Anita does not aprove of cleaning this carving with a toothbrush,I still maintain that it does not have to be your own toothbrush (soft).Of course we wont tell anybody ! Do it with warm water, shampoo or soap, and it may be much nicer looking!
Ernest

Dear Joel,

I think that it is older than its look.

It is more likely nephrite and more than likely had been color-enhanced. The luster might be due to prolong period of excessive fondling. It might have been coated with polymer.

Randy Li

Thanks, Randy

The surfaces have been polished, possibly repolished. I don't think there is any polymer coating.

This piece came from a seller on eBay. He is a US seller and is not a jade specialist. He's one of those people who sells anything and everything, it seems. He's been selling these carvings over the course of at least one year, and they all seem to come from the same shop - similar motifs, materials and execution. It seems, to me, that he bought a large lot of these carvings, and has been putting them on eBay 20 or so at a time. I am pretty sure they are fairly modern in origin.

Thanks again,

Joel

Dear Joel

You may use stainless steel (unsharpen part) knife to do scratch test, jadite will leave no scratch.

The water buffalo was the most important animal in Chinese agriculture. Buffalo comes with lingi fungus of immortality and coin? I think it is a pun for wealth, success and longevity.

I said it is new because this baffalo has coin, I have never seen buffalo comes with coin. Coins mostly come with three-legged frog and mouse.

Jade is easy to fake, but very very difficult to authenticate. Because of its hardness, the main stream of the art of the period may be not to much represented on the jade art, and jade alters very little, 3-4000 of years may be as good as yesterday made.

Many hungry wolves, dishonest, fake sellers are all round the world, especially on the net. They only focus on (fake) surface alteration, but none of them have correct material of locality of nephrite of the period of Chinese art as well as style of the period. They are weird, oddly made from cheap altered stone.

If you want to collect because of its beauty, not for profitable future, It will be very much recommended hobby. You may start to collect white nephrite first, and avoid withening and rashes (any lumps, flakes, raised up lines) on the piece. Pls keep collecting clean and clear.

Pls read the folowing links:-

http://www.asianart.com/articles/hoffman/index.html

http://www.asianart.com/phpforum/subforum.php?method=detailAll&Id=21764&sfid=4

Have fun
Anita Mui

Dear Joel

Your buffalo carries stem of Lingi fungus, and string of a coin in its mouth which symplified modern concept.

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Dear Ernest

That black stain can not be removed, I used stain remover spray for cleaning toilet ceramic floor with tooth brush. I am afraid to use iron brush, it will destroy the lustre of the piece.

Stain is still there, and it is inside the jadite, not on the surface, so I leave it alone.

Have fun
Anita Mui

Thank you for explaining the symbols of this piece. I have noticed the lingi fungus incorporated in other carvings.

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