From personal ornamentation to funerary practice, from palace decoration to private devotion, jade has played a major role in Chinese social, cultural, and political life for millennia. Exploring the history of this revered stone through the esteemed Grenville L. Winthrop Collection at the Harvard Art Museums--which includes some of the finest examples of ancient and archaizing jades outside China--this volume explains how and why jade developed its special significance. In-depth entries on over one hundred objects present recent archaeological discoveries and new information garnered from conservation analysis, while Jenny So's broad and engaging narrative not only elucidates the layered meanings of the objects and their iconography but also delves into the unique qualities of the material and the craftsmanship involved in quarrying and working jade. Distributed for the Harvard Art Museums

This classic guide to Chinese jade is of great interest to art collectors and casual readers alike. First published in 1936 and since then a collector's item of increasing rarity, Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages comprises a review of the characteristics, decorations, folklore, and symbolism of this esteemed mineral that has always held a proud place among gems of the world. The book presents a full descriptive account of the significance and meaning of the carvings produced in this prize stone by Chinese craftsmen from the earliest times, through the Chou and succeeding dynasties, down to the twentieth century. The text is illustrated with a magnificent series of more than 350 reproductions in color, black and white, and line drawings of choice pieces selected from the chief Asian, European, and American collections. In addition the Chinese art history book explains no only the wealth of symbolic designs used in the decoration of jade but also a large number of the marks and devices by which collectors identify the origin and the date of valued pieces.

This book explores the ways in which Nordic private collectors displayed their collections of Chinese objects in their homes. This leads to a reconsideration of how to define collecting and display by analysing the difference between objects serving as decorative or collectible items, while tracing collecting and display trends of the twentieth century. Minna Törmä examines four Scandinavian collections as case studies: Kustaa Hiekka, Sophus Black, Osvald Sirén and Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen, all of whom had professional backgrounds (a jeweler, two businessmen and a scholar) and for whom collecting became a passion and an educational endeavour. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, museum studies, Chinese studies and design history.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 18th Percival David Foundation Colloquy on Art and Archaeology in Asia, held in 1995. The essays were written by a range of international scholars and jade experts, providing a broad overview of the place of Chinese jades in the ancient and modern worlds.