Types of Stones and Their Characteristics

There are some jade and stones that we knowthe kidney.
very less about them. The natives of NewAncient jade objects of various shapes were
Zealand sometimes use these stones for makingused for ceremonial purposes and many of them
figures of human and even articles like axe-head.have been excavated in modern times. They
These stones had never failed to surprise andhave received much attention from scholars and
delight the craftsmen and collectors alike.are rarely to be seen outside museums. The
Jade and other stonesChinese jade that is most likely to be found by
STONES from comparatively hard jade to thethe collector is seldom older than the eighteenth
aptly named soapstone have always presented acentury. Being a hard stone it acquires few signs
challenge to the craftsman. Whenever they wereof wear, and with the Chinese habit of copying
to be found in suitable size and shape it was anthe designs of earlier days it is not easy to
invitation to the lapidary to attempt to fashiondetermine the age of many specimens. Large
them into works of art. The comparison betweenpieces of undoubted age can be very costly, but
a rough natural stone and the result of carefulsmall examples of less certain vintage may be
carving and polishing never ceases to surprise andfound for no more than a few pounds apiece.
delight the onlooker. The finest specimens barelyThe so-called 'Mogul' jade is usually of a pale
indicate the skill and patience that contributed togrey-green colour, carved very thinly and often
their finished form, but a brief study will showwith pierced decoration. Some was inlaid with gold
why the Chinese and others revered jade andand precious stones, which seem to acquire an
why Europeans attempted to rival rock crystaladded fire against the background of the limpid
with glass.stone. The Mogul jades were made in India, but
Jadewere esteemed sufficiently by the Chinese for
The Oriental mind has woven a wealth of legendthe Imperial workshops to have a department
into this stone, which varies in colour from palewhere work in this manner was produced.
grey-green and light lavender to a deep greenThe natives to make axe-heads and ornaments
that is almost black in some lights. Geologists intoused a green nephrite found in New Zealand. Of
two distinct types divide it: jadeite and nephrite.the latter, the 'Tiki', a ferocious-looking distorted
The latter is slightly less hard and under ahuman figure, represents the Maori Creator who
microscope it will be seen that 'in cross-section'took red clay, and kneaded it with his own blood'.
the fibers have cleavage cracks intersecting, notThese pendant talisman are flatly rendered, and
at approximately 90°, as in jadeite, but atusually about three inches high and one and a half
120°, and there are numerous otherinches wide. Specimens some nine inches in height
differences . . .' However, few, if any, collectorsare known but are very rare when so large, and
attempt to distinguish between the two, andcollectors should beware of modern copies of
describe them both as jade.them in all sizes.
The stone is alleged by the Chinese to have beenPieces of these stones nicely carved and polished
forged from a rainbow in order to makecan fetch a high price for collectors. The beliefs
thunderbolts for the God of Storms, and it is alsothat some of these stones possess magical and
the traditional, although surely unpalatable, food ofcurative properties made them all the more
the Taoist genii. By most of the nations ofexpensive. But their dates are very difficult to
antiquity it was regarded as possessing magicalverify because the Chinese often copied from the
and curative properties; not only was it looked onpast designs making it all the more difficult to
also as a symbol of virtue, but it was supposedidentify.
to be of value in the cure of diseases affecting