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Asian Antiques - Chinese and Japanese Jade, Ivory, and Stone

Figurines

Pei - Pi - Perforated Disks

Jade Belt Hooks and Buckles

Plants

Bottles and Jars

SOLD Quartz Crystal Mountain Brush Rest

Animals

SOLD Jade and Zitan Ruyi Scepter

Historical Note

          In the world of Chinese antiquities, jade represents the essential aspects of Chinese culture and aesthetics. This beautiful stone is admired for its hardness, rich colors, and translucence. The ancient Chinese related these properties to the virtues of a gentleman, a symbol for purity, nobility, and integrity.  The art of jade-carving in China developed in the Neolithic period, circa 2000 BC, with the creation of ritualistic objects. 

 

          During the Bronze Age of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, ritual jades gave way to pendants and ornamental items, with diverse forms ranging from dragons, tigers, fish, and birds, to sophisticated pendants, disks, buckles, and plaques.  In medieval times Jade carving became more sophisticated and elaborate, and was was widely used for decorative objects, ornaments, tools, and mortuary items.  The practice of jade carving in China continues to this day as one of the most widely recognized forms of Chinese Art.

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