Collecting guide: Chinese jade

When starting a collection of any sort, it’s important to figure out what kinds of works you’re drawn to, a consideration that’s exponentially more vital when it comes to Chinese jades. Spanning millennia, the material comes in many colours and has been shaped into many forms. ‘It seems basic, but Chinese jades vary so much in both material and form,’ says Vicki Paloympis, head of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art at Christie’s in New York. ‘Learning about them is a journey.’

In contrast, Ming dynasty jades (1368-1644) are often carved from different coloured stones and exhibit a soft high polish, while Qing dynasty (1644-1911) examples, which some people argue are the highest-quality carvings, are often found in white, translucent stones, and sometimes, in coloured stones.

In China’s history, there were two major peaks of intense antiquarian interest: the first during the Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th centuries, and the second during the late Ming-early Qing dynasty, 16th-18th centuries.

‘When I first began learning about jade carvings, I was attracted to the flashier, larger carvings. As my expertise grew, I began to value the finesse of the smaller carvings,’ says Paloympis.

‘In these smaller examples, you can really begin to appreciate the skill of the lapidary artist, who was able to bring so much detail and life into just a small stone.’

Chinese artists have a certain aesthetic taste, and this is seen in diverse mediums such as porcelain and pottery, cloisonné and lacquer. Once you have accustomed your eye to the proportions and silhouettes of Chinese forms, this will inform your entire collecting experience.

A good tip for a novice jade collector would be to look for forms that you are already familiar with in other mediums. ‘Once you have mastered these jade objects you can branch to the less familiar,’ says Paloympis.

In the carved jade plaque below, the boy and bat on one side represent a wish for good fortune and allude to a wish for male descendants. The Chinese word for bat, fu, is a homophone for good luck and happiness. Additionally, the flower-filled basket that sits beside the boy in the boat relays a wish for abundance. On the opposite side, the lotus flower (hehua) symbolizes both marriage and purity.

Chinese jade lapidary artists exercised their superior technical abilities to demonstrate their understanding of the material. ‘This type of attention to the stone is what separates a master carver from a novice and is a sign of quality,’ Paloympis says.

A good example of the high technical skill of Chinese artists is this well-carved white jade brush pot. The brush pot is decorated with a continuous frieze of scholars within a landscape at various pursuits and inscribed with two tang-dynasty poems describing the scene. This pictorial and textual combination would have been an ideal composition for the literatus who used this brush pot.

Just as some collectors will connect personally with a marriage bowl, others may be drawn to jades that illustrate scenes from famous texts or poems, or carvings of specific animals. Others may prefer certain themes or auspicious subjects. Ruyi means 'as one desires,' and is associated with expressions such as jixiang ruyi, 'may all your good fortunes be fulfilled.' the ruyi-form head symbolizes peace, prosperity and longevity.

At the height of the Chinese market in 2011, prices were high for both white jades and spinach-green jades. But more recently clients have been searching for 18th-century white, translucent jades with perfect stone, rather than examples in other colours. Prices for ancient jades from cultures such as Hongshan or Liangzhu have also been high in recent years.

‘If you’re a new collector and you know the market is really strong for white jade, you might want to try to find a different area and collect spinach-green jades or Ming jades, for example. The prices will be a little bit more affordable,’ Paloympis says.

Small jades can be a good place to start for new collectors, such as this snuff bottle carved in the form of an eggplant. This piece is not only appealing due to its charming form but also for the purity of tone in the stone. 

‘If I were a new collector, I would go for those really beautiful, auspicious carvings. The prices are going to be lower because they’re small,’ Paloympis says. ‘So go for something smaller in size, but higher in quality.’

To get the full experience of collecting, you have to love what you collect. It is good to have an understanding of the market, but in the end, the satisfaction will come from living with a piece that you love and can appreciate on a day-to-day basis.