The skill and dexterity of carving jade is something that completely amazes and astounds me. The thinner jade is cut, the more translucent it becomes. But one small errant nick, one tiny misplaced cut, can turn your jade artwork into a mess. Artisans today use diamond-tipped bits and burrs to carve jade animals and jade rings and jade jewels for pendants and earrings.
Now go back hundreds of years ago, Chinese artisans and carvers crafted intricate and dazzling sculptures of deep, dark green nephrite, also known as “spinach jade.”
Let me show you an example.
According to liveauctioneers.com, this spinach jade brushpot is part of Wednesday’s upcoming Chinese Ceramics & Asian Works of Art, as part of the I.M. Chait Gallery’s 45th year of successful operation. And this amazing brushpot – hand-carved and whittled, so that every fragile leaf and stalk and branch stands out – not in a trompe-l’œil “trick of the eye” three-dimensional gimmick, but in a tremendously detailed and work-intensive skill and craft.
This particular brushpot features trees and stalks of bamboo and hickory, while scholars around the brushpot’s perimeter play games of chess. The piece also features a label on its base, noting that the piece was originally auctioned in the late 1960’s / early 1970’s by the London auction house Spink & Son. Estimated value for this brushpot? Start at $40,000 to $60,000.
This is one of over 350 pieces of fine Asian art and antqiues that will be auctioned this Wednesday. For more information on the collection, whether you want to bid or you want to see the treasures from the Middle Kingdom, visit Chait’s website at chait.com.
Chuck The Writer 
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