Carved white jade leaf cluster ornament

Snuff Bottle in the Shape of an Eggplant

Two Monkeys on Two Peaches

Lotus-Leaf Dish

Carved white jade leaf for bowl and stand

Carved white jade flower form bowl and cover with stand

Bottle in the shape of a gourd

Vase

Gourd-Shaped Snuff Bottle with a Butterfly, Trailing Tendrils, and Fruit Branches

Created by Reina Gattuso. 
Ancient Chinese people believed jade could confer immortality. They obtained nephrite, one of the two minerals geologists call jade, from Turkestan and Siberia. In modern times, they also obtained jadeite from southeast Asia. Chinese scholars associated jade with courtly virtues including integrity, persistence, and moral purity.1 

In the Qing Dynasty, when most of the jade objects in this collection were made, artists carved particularly elaborate jade forms. They employed tools and abrasives to impart ornate designs on the extremely hard stone.2 Depictions of fruit, flowers, and vegetables were popular. 

Plant varieties hold spiritual meanings within Daoism and Buddhism. The lotus symbolizes spiritual growth from the mud of worldliness to the blossom of enlightenment.3 The peach symbolizes immortality.4 The gourd represents a wish for numerous offspring.5
 
Jade ranges in color from brilliant apple green to subtle grayish blue to pure white. Artists took advantage of this natural tonal variation to create startlingly lifelike vegetation. Their seemingly miraculous skill transformed an unyielding material into juicy lettuce leaves, plump peaches, and translucent lotus blossoms.

 
CITATIONS 


1 Lyons, Elizabeth. “Chinese Jades.” Penn Museum, 1978, https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/chinese-jades/. Accessed 16 April 2022. 
 
2 “Chinese Jades.” 
 
3 “Lotus.” Philadelphia Museum of Art, https://www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/318939. Accessed 26 April 2022. 

4 Sun, Jason. “Chinese Hardstone Carvings.” The Met, June 2016, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hard/hd_hard.htm. Accessed 16 April 2022. 

5 Howard, Samantha, “Myth and Magic in the East Asian Ivory and Jade Collections.” Text modified by Glenn Roadley. The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, 2 May 2021, https://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/myth-and-magic-in-the-east-asian-ivory-and-jade-collections/. Accessed 16 April 2022.

Fruit, Flowers, and Vegetables in Chinese Jade

Fruit, Flowers, and Vegetables in Chinese Jade

About this Collection

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