The identification of carving techniques on Chinese jade

Abstract

Abstract In a study of the technology used in China to carve jade, a tradition predating the 5th millennium BC, eight artefacts, dated stylistically to the Neolithic Hongshan and Liangzhu cultures (4th–3rd millennia BC), the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties (11th–3rd centuries BC) and the Ming and Qing dynasties (14th–20th centuries AD) were examined. Initially, the materials of the artefacts were analysed non-destructively using Raman microscopy to confirm that they are nephrite jade. A survey using binocular microscopy showed that traces of the original tool marks survive on most of the artefacts. Following the approach and experience developed to investigate the engraving of Near Eastern quartz cylinder seals, scanning electron microscopy has been used to examine moulds of the tool marks. Sets of criteria have been established which permit six techniques of carving to be recognised. These have been interpreted as drilling, wheel-cutting, sawing, flexible string sawing, riffling and point or blade abrasion. The results suggest that study of a broader selection of artefacts should allow a chronology for the development of jade carving to be established. In addition, the results have demonstrated that original tool marks may have been lost on heavily weathered surfaces and that new tool marks may have been introduced during cleaning or restoration.