It is said that jade is made up of 30% material and 70% craftsmanship. So what kind of carving is considered good?

When appreciating jadeite, one mainly considers three aspects: type, color and workmanship . Among them, the quality of jadeite craftsmanship has a great influence on the value of jadeite. If a piece of fine jade is carved very roughly and lacks any spiritual energy, then its price will inevitably be greatly reduced. On the contrary, an ordinary piece of jade, if it is exquisitely carved and its own flaws are effectively utilized, may greatly double its value.

As the saying goes “30% of jade is material and 70% of workmanship” , it can be seen how important the workmanship of jade is in the finished product of jade. Today, let’s talk about the “workmanship” of jade.

Why does jade need carving?

In fact, this is a very simple question. Because it is not perfect, the carving master needs to make the jade perfect through carving. It's like giving a woman beauty treatment, makeup, or even plastic surgery, the two are very similar.

There is a saying that women dress up to please themselves, and jade is carved for those who understand it. Jade has inevitable flaws, so it is necessary to remove those flaws and retain the beauty, and it needs to be carefully carved to bring out its beautiful side.

Don’t say that good jade does not need to be carved. How many perfect jades like that can we see in reality? In fact, all the jadeite we see needs to be carved, even if it is just a few strokes, there must be a reason!

So, when you look at jade again, don’t listen to what the merchants say about how perfect this piece of jade is. If it is really perfect, then there is no need to do any work, just wear the raw stone directly!

How is carving graded?

Level 1: Mind follows form

It is based on the characteristics of the jade raw materials and combined with the meaning of blessing and luck, it is carved into finished products of various themes, such as landscape signs, beans, leaves, and so on. In other words, all kinds of floral pieces, ornaments, and themes with meaningful meanings that we usually see are classified here. In other words, at this level, whatever you carve is what you get.

Level 2: The icing on the cake

To put it bluntly, carving increases the value of jade. The characteristics of jade raw materials, such as floating flowers and colors, are well utilized and become a highlight in the finished product! Just like what we often call clever carving and colorful carving, I classify them into this category.

Level 3: Turn decay into magic

It is the kind of material that everyone thinks can only be discarded, but in the hands of the sculptor it is transformed into a stunning and perfect counterattack. Or maybe the originally flawed part was carved into the finishing touch by the sculptor's skillful hands! These are carvings that are far superior to the raw materials, truly turning decay into magic and waste into treasure. This level of carving is often seen in master-level works. Of course, there are also many masters among the people who possess such unparalleled skills.

Are jade carvings valuable?

There are many themes of jade pendants, but we generally divide them into two types: plain pieces and carved pieces. Plain pieces include the common peace buckles, Ruyi, melons, etc., while carved pieces have much richer contents and themes, such as common landscapes, dragons, flowers and birds, etc.

The value of a raw artifact is determined by the natural quality of the jade. A raw artifact with good natural quality will naturally have a high value, while one with poor quality will have a relatively low value. But carvings are different. Some jadeite with poorer natural quality may have a lot of cotton, stone patterns, dirty spots, etc. The sculptor can use carving techniques to remove these factors that reduce the value, thereby increasing the value of the entire work. That’s why there is a saying in the jade carving world that “three parts jade, seven parts workmanship.” This leads some jade lovers who are just getting started to make a cognitive misunderstanding – they think that the more work done on a jadeite carving, the better, and the higher its value.

However, more often than not, carving also means there are more flaws on the jade. What you think is the area with more carving is actually covering up a crack underneath.

Avoiding Cracks in Shanshui Cards

Landscapes are the best subject matter for avoiding cracks, so jade materials with cracks are often used to make landscapes. The mountains on landscape plaques can avoid cracks, stones can avoid cracks, and trees can also avoid cracks... As long as the cracks on the material are not through-and-through, landscapes can perfectly avoid cracks. So when taking out landscape plaques, especially three-dimensional ones, you must pay more attention to see clearly.

Avoid splitting of dragon cards and other mythical beast themes

To avoid cracks in mythical beast themes, the complex lines of the themes are generally used to hide the cracks on the lines. For example, dragon plaques will hide the cracks in dragon scales, dragon whiskers or dragon claws, etc. Outside the main body of the mythical beast, auspicious clouds, fireworks, water ripples, etc. will be used to avoid cracks.

Avoidance of flower and bird theme

Flower and bird cards usually use petals or leaves to avoid cracks.

Avoiding the split of the theme of Buddha statues

In principle, materials with cracks are generally not used to make Buddhist statues. Firstly, it has a bad meaning, and secondly, such themes are mostly smooth and difficult to avoid cracks. But what should I do if I find cracks after doing it? At this time, auspicious patterns such as swastikas, Ruyi, or auspicious clouds are generally used to avoid cracks.

What are the methods for processing jade?

First of all, we need to explain the jade craftsmanship from two aspects: on the one hand, we need to emphasize the exquisiteness of jade craftsmanship, and on the other hand, we need to emphasize the simplicity of jade craftsmanship. The two seem contradictory, but they are true at the same time.

Good materials are not well crafted. How could a material with good quality, water content and color be made with poor craftsmanship? In Myanmar, the worst jade raw materials are used to build walls and pave roads. Many jade lovers have seen pictures of them. Low-grade jade materials weighing several tons may only be sold for a few thousand yuan. If it is high-end jade raw material, you will definitely find a highly skilled sculptor to complete the carving. If it is a very famous carver, the carver may also have a stake in the company. That is, after you sell the jade, you will have to give the carver a commission according to a certain percentage. Low-end processing is usually done by apprentices, who practice under the guidance of their masters. In this way, it may only cost 10 yuan or even less to process a piece of flower piece. Some people say that machine carving can be used, and machine carving is widely used. However, there are also many hand-carved works by apprentices. After all, jade carving masters also grew up as apprentices.

If you are not sure about the material of jade, you can actually start with the workmanship of jade. This is certainly a bit one-sided, but it can still be used as a reference. If a finished product with good water color is roughly carved, the possibility of it being a fake increases sharply...

Below I will talk about the most basic carving methods:

When choosing jade carvings, it will not be difficult if you understand the basic carving techniques. There are many kinds of carving techniques, the most common ones are : round carving, relief carving, chain carving, hollow carving, button carving, etc.

1. Relief

Relief , which is between round sculpture and painting, is a kind of sculpture carved on a flat surface with convex and concave images. It has various forms and can be three-dimensional or flat. It can be attached to a carrier or exist independently.

2. Round Sculpture

Round sculpture , also known as three-dimensional sculpture, allows viewers to see all sides of an object from different angles. It requires the sculptor to carve from seven directions: front, back, left, right, top, middle and bottom. It is the most basic technique in stone carving.

3. Chain carving

Chain carving is a highly difficult carving technique that involves carving a whole movable stone chain. It was first seen in the carving of jade artifacts. Chain carving has very high requirements on jade. The jade must be fine, pure, and hard. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and is mostly used for carving ornaments such as bottles and stoves. Therefore, it is not very common.

4. Button carving

Button carving refers specifically to the carving of the button decoration on the upper part of the seal. It also belongs to the category of round sculpture, but it is limited to the scale of the seal. The content of button carving is mostly animals in ancient legends, with a full sense of three-dimensionality.

5. Hollow Carving

Openwork carving is based on relief, but the background part is hollowed out, and various designs and patterns are carved on the carving carrier. Some are single-sided carvings, and some are double-sided carvings.

Three indicators to distinguish the quality of carving

"Pretty, clever and exquisite" and "color, type, water and workmanship" are the rules for judging the quality of jadeite. Although workmanship ranks last, it can also greatly enhance the added value of jadeite if the craftsmanship is exquisite.

Jadeite - Pretty

"Qiao " refers to the use of color, which is a test of the basic skills of the carving master. It is necessary to make full use of the colors of different parts according to the specific conditions of the color distribution of jade, so as to highlight the overall and unified artistic sense and complement each other.

Jadeite - clever

Cleverness , in fact, refers to the designer's unique ideas, as well as the clever and spiritual ideas that can maximize the advantages of jade and elevate the entire work to a higher level.

This process tests one's ability to grasp and control the jade raw materials. Only by fully understanding the type, water, color, structure, and size of the raw materials can one make the best design. This is the ingenuity of carving.

Jadeite - Fine

"Jing " refers to the exquisite craftsmanship. The best carvings are made up of countless details. The proportions of the ornaments, the straightness of the lines, the consistency of the expressions and facial features of portraits, etc., are all manifestations of exquisite craftsmanship.

The craftsmanship of jade is reflected in all aspects. Especially as carvings are currently popular in the market, friends need to pay more attention to them. Having a certain understanding of carving will be of great help in both the selection of finished products and the valuation.

Whether the carving of a jade pendant is simple or complex is not something you can do as you wish. It follows the principle of making the best use of the material and highlighting the beauty of the jade to the greatest extent possible, thereby increasing the selling price and maximizing profits.

Generally speaking, if the material is good, the carving should be kept as simple as possible, and the material should be cherished as if it were gold, highlighting the quality of the material itself. If the material has many flaws, intricate carving will be applied to remove tangles, spots, and colors. The general principle is to achieve perfection through carving.

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