The thinner the jade, the more valuable it is. Unimaginable jade carvings

Generally speaking, jade will be more valuable only if it is thickly coated. If it is too thin, no matter how good its quality and color are, it will be useless! However, there is a kind of jade that is famous for its thinness - thin-bodied jade. The thinner it is, the more valuable it is!

The thin-walled process is academically known as the "Hindustan process". The jade materials are mostly Khotan jade from southern Xinjiang and Yarkand hornblende jade. Some of the vessels are inlaid with gold, silver filaments and various gems or glass such as red, green, yellow and blue. The decorative patterns are mostly plant flowers and leaves, mainly acanthus, passion fruit and clematis.

In addition to these decorative techniques, the technology of grinding is also used to make the body thin and transparent. There is a saying that "the jade workmanship is incomparable, and the water-grinded jade is as thin as paper."

Thin-bodied jade articles require the body to be of uniform thickness. The thickness of the body depends on the quality, color and shape of the jade, reflecting the quality, color and transparency of the jade, and uses light transmission to reflect the uniform beauty and transparency of the jade. The most common shapes are plates and bowls, but bottles, pots and the like are also produced.

Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty once composed a poem for thin jade ware: "As thin as a grain of sand, lighter than a feather. In the hand you may think it is nothing, but when you look closely you can see it has a shape." He praised its exquisiteness and lightness.

The "hollowing" technique must be used to make thin-bodied jade articles, which was a unique skill in ancient times. In some cases, after the jade is hollowed out, the thinnest part of the jade wall is only one or two millimeters thick.

It is said that the more jade a jade carver digs out, the more gold the buyer has to pay. This shows the high value of its craftsmanship.

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