GIA Museum Presents Ancient Chinese Jade Carvings from Smithsonian Institution

Nazha Slaying of the Dragon King: This scene from the battle of Nazha and the Dragon King is represented in the mineral nephrite. Transfer from the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

A collection of intricate Chinese jade carvings will be showcased in the GIA Museum in Carlsbad, Calif., May 24 – Oct. 31. Magic, Myths, and Minerals: Chinese Jades from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery will be on loan from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). It includes 37 ancient jade sculptures dating from the Shang dynasty (13th–11th century B.C.E.) through the Qing dynasty (17th–18th century).

The exhibition explores the art of jade carving, touching on the significance and use of jade in Chinese society. It also introduces the extraordinary skills required to shape and polish this beautiful but incredibly tough gemstone.

Smooth and lustrous, jade has fascinated the Chinese for more than 5,000 years. In ancient China, jade was recognized not only for its beauty and durability, but also for its reputed magical or supernatural qualities. It was believed that jade preserved the human body after death. Early Chinese jades were often fashioned for use in religious ceremonies and burial rites, and jade objects were frequently interred in the tombs of China’s ruling elite.

Most of the sculptures in this exhibition were not made for ceremonial purposes, but rather for private appreciation. The jade objects are divided into sections that explain the significance of what is represented, including animals, birds, dragons, horses, elephants, and signs of the Chinese, among others.


Ring ornament: A boy stands on a bank of clouds while a serpentine dragon arches to confront him. The rings held by the boy may represent the magic golden bracelets that Nazha used as weapons. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Arthur M. Sackler.

“The pieces in the exhibition vary as much in their appearance as they do in their significance,” noted GIA Museum Director Elise Misiorowski. One piece depicts a mandarin duck – an emblem of faithfulness and marriage – holding a lotus blossom in its beak. Another piece represents an elephant, which is regarded as a wise and patient animal in Chinese lore. Fashioned during the Song dynasty (10th–13th century), this piece displays the detail of a genuine elephant, taking into consideration its wrinkled skin, curved tusks, veined ears, and large toenails.

A segment of the exhibition illustrates how jade sculptures were carved in early times. “Ancient people had few tools available that were capable of carving jade,” said GIA Museum Curator Terri Ottaway. “Artisans applied a paste made from ground garnets, quartz sand, or other abrasive particles, and gradually wore away small areas of the jade to shape a sculpture.”

“Magic, Myths, and Minerals interprets the symbolism of these jade pieces and describes what they meant to their original owners,” said Misiorowski. Artisans recognized the power of these symbols and used them to enliven their works. “It is indeed a breathtaking display, and what a benefit to the San Diego community for such an impressive Smithsonian collection to be on display here at GIA.”


Ram from the Qing dynasty. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Arthur M. Sackler.

Magic, Myths, and Minerals: Chinese Jades from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is organized by SITES in cooperation with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The exhibition is made possible in part by the Blakemore Foundation and the Smithsonian Special Exhibition Fund. GIA’s Museum galleries are open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., and are free and available to the public through scheduled tours. Contact Yvette Wilson, Guest Services supervisor, to schedule a tour: call , ext. 4116. Outside the U.S., call .

Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman

by Robert Kleiner

New York (Hong Kong): Alan and Simone Hartman, 1996. xx + (1) + 263 pp, 207 color plates. Cloth, embossed and silvered, color illus d.j. 12 x 8 5/8 inches. $60.00



One of the great pleasures of collecting Chinese jades is to share one’s treasures with others. And with a collection as magnificent as the Hartmans’ comes the obligation to document it. With the help of Robert Kleiner, the well-known snuff bottle and jade expert, the Hartmans have provided a beautiful and accessible catalog of more than 200 of their finest pieces.

Simone Hartman’s introductory section of “Reminiscences” puts a human face on a collection whose museum quality might otherwise be intimidating. Tales of how several pieces were acquired name names and even prices. A favorite Qianlong vase, for example, was acquired by Alan’s father in the early ‘50s, then sold a few years later. Three decades passed before the Hartmans found it again in Tokyo, agonized over its steep price for several years, and finally repatriated it to their collection (but at nearly 20 times the price!). Another story relates how a pair of Qing jade screens, separated for who knows how long, was reunited from two purchases half a world apart.

Kleiner’s 8-page Introduction provides an interesting, readable history of the 8000 years of jade carving in China. The ups and downs of the jade supply, the evolution of abrasives technology, and the types of raw material characteristic of each period are succinctly described. A “Chronology of Periods” recounts the jade highlights of each major period, from Neolithic to Qing. The Hartman collection is particularly strong in Ming and Qing jades, so the Qing Dynasty’s four distinct periods receive an extended discussion. The exciting archaeological findings of the past few decades are appropriately incorporated, and frequent references to cataloged pieces illustrate stylistic points. For supporting detail, Kleiner principally cites “Jades from China” and Keverne’s “Jade.”

The Introduction amounts to a thumbnail history of China from the perspective of a jade aficionado. Kleiner acknowledges the technical excellence and decorative sophistication of Warring States jades, but these were achieved, he says, “at the cost of a certain artistic quality.” Some may disagree, but all would concur that the Han Dynasty jades which followed demonstrated abundant grace and vigor. In the Six Dynasties and Tang periods foreign influence arrived, introducing flower motives and jade figures of camels and other exotic animals. Competing luxuries soon arose-- silver and gold in the Tang, and ceramics in the Ming period-- each diverting some of the creative drive from jade carving. The Qing period began with a severe shortage of quality jade, ascended to one of the golden eras of jade supply and carving under Qianlong, and then declined again as the weakened Qing lost their grip on the Khotan jade fields.

A 2-page commentary on “The Origin and Development of Chinese Jades” by noted jade author Yang Boda follows. Dr. Yang devotes his limited space to the two extrema not treated in the Introduction: prior to the Hongshan and Liangzhu, and post-Qing. He speculates on the very earliest period of jade in China, the period of growth and development that must have preceded the Hongshan/Liangzhu, back to the time, perhaps 10,000 years ago, when primitive people first learned to distinguish jade from ordinary stone. His comments on the “bright future” of Chinese jade carving are perhaps less convincing, with Beijing lapidaries today producing overly ornate carvings “to meet Western tastes,” as well as imitation antiques.

The Catalogue proper consists of 207 superb examples of jade carving, beginning with a typical Liangzhu cong (but only two dozen pieces are pre-Han), on through the Ming/Qing pieces, particularly vessels in ancient forms, that are the strength of the collection. Photographer Maggie Nimkin has risen to the challenge of capturing jade on film. The color photographs are excellent; many are multiple-view. Each piece is described in a few short paragraphs, with size, provenance, publication data, and a brief caption in Chinese. The jades themselves are masterful examples of glyptic art. The Shang bear (No. 3), the classic Warring States dragon pendant (No. 15), the Han pendant with writhing dragons (No. 29), the yellow Song covered vase (No. 40 and on the cover), the calcified Ming alms bowl (No. 46), the spinach green Qing Imperial seal (No. 150, one of several Imperial pieces), or any of the dozens of green and white Qing vessels-- there are too many favorites to name.

The Hartmans have assembled a broad collection with impeccable taste. These charter members of Friends of Jade have bestowed a gift on all friends of Chinese art by so beautifully documenting their collection, yet somehow contriving to keep the price of this catalog quite reasonable.

-- Eric J. Hoffman

(Published in Friends of Jade Newsletter, January 1997 and on Asian Arts - Forum Web site, February 1997)

Splendors of Imperial China: Jades from the National Palace Museum

(Wade-Giles transliteration used)

Aficionados of Chinese jade quickly come to know the famous examples in Taiwan’s National Palace Museum. The NPM’s numerous jade books, and others, have widely published these jades. Now there is a rare opportunity to see many of these famous jades in person, as 440 of NPM’s finest Chinese works of art tour this country. “It’s the greatest show of Chinese art in the West of all time,” says Wen Fong, the Metropolitan Museum’s Chinese art expert.


The exhibition schedule of “Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei” is:

Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.) 3/19 — 5/19 1996
Art Institute of Chicago 6/29 — 8/25
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco 10/14 — 12/8
National Gallery of Art (Washington) 1/27 — 4/6 1997

I had the pleasure of visiting this exhibit in New York. About half the space is devoted to paintings and calligraphy, which after all are considered the two most important arts in China (we FOJ members must remember that, in China, jade carving is officially a “minor” art). But there are plenty of jades, too—all world-class museum pieces that we have come to know and admire from countless books—selected from NPM’s mind-boggling collection of 10,923 jades.

The chronologically organized exhibit begins with a huge (16” diameter) creamy white Neolithic pi and a 19” tall dark green ts’ung with 17 registers (both 3rd Millennium BC). How could the technology of 5000 years ago fashion such a ts’ung out of nephrite? Next is the famous 2nd Millennium BC white jade tablet with eagle motif, inscribed (upside down, the exhibit points out) with Ch’ien-lung’s seals and commentary. A late Shang bird-form p’ei pendant, altered white, is one of the largest ever (4.5”). A Warring States beaker with handle displays a chrome green splash—very unusual for nephrite. The famous NPM Han Dynasty striding pi-hsieh (3.6”) is next, as well as a pair of typical Warring States p’ei dragon pendants with C-scrolls.

The next group features a Northern Sung jade book of 16 slips with gold incised text describing a ritual performed by Emperor Chen-tsung, dated 1008. In the next room is a small (2.9”) but exquisite Liao (916-1125) white, winged fish-dragon pendant and the widely published NPM black seated ram with rider, once dated Han, now “Yuan or later.”

After a short stretch without jades, the visitor comes to an impressive exhibit of Ming, Ch’ing, and Hindustan jades. Included are a 20-piece set of white jade Ming belt plaques, a Ming peach-shaped brush dipper with phoenix and blossoms carved in openwork from the caramel skin (a personal favorite), a spinach green 6.4” tall brush holder with deep relief (Ch’ien-lung, his poem carved into the rim), one of Ch'ien-lung’s double seals, and—the only jadeite exhibited—a brilliant green belthook.

Ch'ien-lung’s connoisseurship is given special prominence, for “At the height of [his] collecting activities, there were probably more than 1,000,000 objects—antiquities and contemporary works—in the Imperial collections.” Of special interest—and rarely seen in museums—is a group of three wood Imperial “Treasure Boxes,” their secret compartments and swing-out and sliding shelves holding up to 30 miniature works of art. One had a tiny inventory book, another a microscopically carved walnut shell, but mostly these “boxes of many treasures” were filled with tiny jades. Something for the Emperor to play with on a rainy day!

The exhibit ends where it began, with a group of archaic jades, including the well known Neolithic pi (11” diam.) which Ch'ien-lung had carved with his seals and inscriptions. The sign notes, “Ch'ien-lung may have been the first to date this group of jades correctly.”

This show is unusually well documented, with three catalogs, a videotape, and (ah, brave new world!) a $25 CD-ROM. The “popular” catalog is Splendors of Imperial China ($35), the "scholarly" catalog is Possessing the Past ($85, with a 31 pp chapter on jade by James Watt), and a specialized catalog is Beyond Representation: Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy. Of course, the NPM publishes many books devoted solely to jade; these may be the first choice for FOJ members.

The gift shop sells special NPM scroll painting reproductions done very realistically in Japan on silk, for up to $1500. Also offered is a decidedly unrealistic 16” fiberglass reproduction of a green jade K’ang-hsi water buffalo ($210; it was not in the exhibit).

For jade lovers, this show is worth a trip. Considerable controversy surrounded the release of these pieces from Taiwan; once they return home they may not be seen again in the West for a long, long time.

— Eric J. Hoffman

(Published in Friends of Jade Newsletter, August 1996 and on Asian Arts - Forum Web site, July 1996)