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To live and enjoy every day to its fullest, use my gifts to help others, I travel to wherever passion finds me.

What Will She Paint?

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Monday, September 28, 2009

JADE - NOT JADED

Two years ago my son and hubby went to the Great Big Wall in Beijing, while I went off painting in that city. Told them to take a lot of pics. They came back with about 400 pics! Enough for you? At the wall there are also several other things located, like tombs of China's royalty (yes, they had a king!), a den with about 40 panda bears, and a jade factory.




Jade is the gold of China. One of the stories was that a king wanted jade
and initially the owner refused to sell it to him. The king kept pursuing him
and the owner got a city as payment!
What we see most of the time in America labeled as "jade"
is really jade dust that is compressed.
It's still the real thing, but one can compare it to compressed wood.





This is how they cut the bracelet.
It makes sense when you see it.
But I did not realize befor how much jade is needed
for one bracelet!





  This is the finished result. Jade is more valued that gold or diamonds. 
In China originally soft jade was found and mined.
It was not until 12 70 that Jadeite was imported from Burma. 
Now jadeite is more popular and has more value than soft jade.





I love this pair of sculpted horses.





 And jade birds





Wouldn't you love to drink tea from a jade teapot?







You thought that jade was green?
Apparently there is also red jade.
A red hat with flowers. What a skill!

16 comments:

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Oh WOW WOW WOW!!!!!! This is spectacular. I LOVE jade. The things like the birds and horses are brilliant!!

Irene said...

It does make you appreciate jade very much and I still prefer the green jade, but it is just my color. If it were given to me, I'd gladly accept the red jade also!

Unknown said...

I loved visiting the Great Wall and found it be as awesome as I would have expected. I, too, visited some jade shops and saw how jewelry and bibloes were made, very interesting!

Rudee said...

I have a few jade bracelets that I don't wear often enough. The bracelet making method is interesting.

Carol Murdock said...

Gorgeous photos! I did not know ours was compressed! :)

Unknown said...

Very beautiful pieces. I knew a bit about jade, but not all that you posted. Thanks.

Jeannette StG said...

Yes, I agree, it's beautiful how the light falling on the jade makes them come alive. But I can't say like you that I own the pieces LOL

Jeannette StG said...

Irene,
Jade, whatever color, and whatever object, I would accept too! Maybe I should send Sinterklaas a letter...

Jeannette StG said...

Jane,
Hope you got to buy some jade too! In that sense, I know hubby was glad I went painting, because if I would have been there, I would have made a serious dent in our pocket:)
Too bad they went on a day when it was very foggy (in August!), so the pics of the wall itself did not turn out well.

Jeannette StG said...

Rudee,
Lucky you! Doesn't it make sense the way they cut the bracelets? I wonder how they do it in the US (if it's from a semi-and precious stone).

Jeannette StG said...

Carol,
Didn't know that it was compressed either, but if it's more valuable than diamonds, you can imagine that most people could not buy it!

Jeannette StG said...

Joey,
You're welcome, Joey. What I know is second hand, from hubby, and I also went on google to verify the info. Hoped that there were more specifics, but none of the blogs were. There probably is more info, but then I would have to do more research.

crochet lady said...

I've always been facinated with jade. I really like the green type.
I knew it was prized and wondered if stones for jewelry for sale here in the US were solid stone or compressed. I didn't realize that jadite was becoming more in demand than the soft jade.
Thanks for the bit of history about it, interesting!

Jeannette StG said...

Jen,
Yes, I love the subtle transparency of jade!
I don't know if the raw stones (for sculptors) is solid or compressed, but the jewelry that is still at an affordable price is most likely to be compressed jade dust.

Kilauea Poetry said...

These are beautiful..now this is an interesting post! I love these colors Jeannette and how wonderful to take a trip like this. I could just imagine all those photos too. That comparison to pressed wood is funny but I guess true..still looks pretty.
Hey, thanks for your sweet comments on my blog..I left a little reply too. Have a great weekend-

Jeannette StG said...

Kilauea Poetry,
Sorry, Regina, I thought I already had responded to you:)
We were the proverbial Americans who kept clicking with the camera! Really glad with all the pics, because I have so much material now for muy blogs.
Thank you, you're always so thoughtful!