Chains Carved Out of a Single Piece of Jade Rock
Chinese Jade Chain Vases
A personal view by John Neville Cohen
The Chinese have revered and carved Jade and Nephrite for generations, and
still do. The modern 20th century carvers use all the latest
machinery and technology to carve this very hard, brittle material.
But all of the antique jade carvings were lovingly made by hand and have
been highly valued throughout the ages.
Personally, I
far prefer the antique jade carvings (up to the first part of the
19th century) as these were always carved from a single stone, with
rather basic tools, and they often took a very long time to complete.
Yet, most of these carvings have qualities that are far more beautiful
than the modern ones. They managed to carve attractive bottles and
vases that are wonderfully hollowed out, sometimes through such a small
opening at the top, as is the case with Snuff Bottles, it is incredible
how they have been made, so that even the shoulders of the bottles are
finely hollowed.
‘The Cohen Collection’
What I also find fascinating are the amazing vases, with covers, which are
connected by a chain, where everything has been carved out of just one
stone! I even know of some jade vases with covers that have a double
chain attaching the lid to the vase on either side.
‘The Cohen Collection’
There are some where the cover is separate and the double chain is used to
hang the vase from an elaborate, often pierced, carved jade hanger.
I.M. Chait
Gallery/Auctioneers
I have not found any reference on how jade chains are carved on the
Internet, or anything about jade-chained vases so I decided to publish
this article. But I did find an interesting YouTube.com video, on
how to carve chains from a single piece of wood (by searching YouTube
for "wood carving chain") and I presume this is how the chains would
also have been carved in other materials, including jade.
But to
consider how difficult it must be to conceive of carving a beautiful well
proportioned (well hollowed out) vase, plus a perfectly fitting
cover, with a long chain of evenly formed links, all to be carved out of a
single jade boulder is something I find quite staggering!
‘The Cohen Collection’
Which brings me to the question of value. For some reason, currently,
Chinese jade-chained vases are not that highly valued, in monetary terms,
compared with other antique jade carvings. This is because connoisseurs
and antique jade collectors consider them, as nothing more than cabinet
pieces, simply made for display rather than for use, and worse still they
were only made for the export market!
I too, as a collector, tend to value more the
Chinese carvings that were made for personal use; such as pendants, snuff
bottles, water droppers, archer's rings and handling pieces. But as
there are such an amazing amount of high quality skills involved, in
carving these chained vases, I do feel that these lovely works of art
should be far more highly appreciated. Fashions do exist in the
collecting world and I am sure one day, these chained vases will be highly
sought after.
John
Neville Cohen: An International award winning photographer
who also became a well known Asian antiques collector and an
enthusiast of Jensen British classic cars.
Other interests are skiing and Salsa dancing.
The author has been a very keen
collector for many years in helping to create 'The Cohen
collection'.
Please have a look at: - https://www.jncohen.com
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photographs, please use the following link: https://www.jncohen.com/Articles/articles.htm
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