Drill for carving jade

Creator Name

Unknown

Cultural Context

Chinese

Date

20th century

About the work

curationist logoCurationist Object Description
The tools used in Chinese jade carving have developed over thousands of years. A drill like this was used for carving jade and was affixed to the end of a spinning shaft on a table-type rotary machine. The spinning effect was powered by foot treadles and the friction between the drill and jade was eased by the use of a watery solution. The size of the drill and the consistent movement of the treadle allowed the artisan to achieve a high degree of detail.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Object Description

Jade carving tool

Work details

"--" = no data available
= Curationist added metadata(Learn more)

Title

Drill for carving jade

Creator

Unknown

Worktype

Tool
Metalwork

Cultural Context

Chinese
China

Material

Steel

Dimensions

L. 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm); Diam. 1/4 in. (0.6 cm)

Technique

--

Language

--

Date

20th century
20th century

Provenance

Gift of Joan Hartman-Goldsmith, 1981

Style Period

--

Rights

Public Domain
Public Domain

Inscription

--

Location

China

Subjects

Engraving

Topic

Jade

Curationist Metadata Contributors

Christina Stone

All Works in Curationist’s archives can be reproduced and used freely. How to attribute this Work:

Unknown, Drill for carving jade, 20th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. A watery solution helped this drill carve into hard jade stones. Public Domain.

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