Characteristics of Jade Carving Technology

Friends around me often comment on jade carvings as simple, conservative, and not refined enough. Why is there such a mismatch in perception in the eyes of the public? Just a few days ago, I saw a few posters of Chinese traditional culture and art, which I think can explain this point very well.

The first picture is a wood carving. Wood carving is based on skill and detail. As each piece of carving material is different, it is necessary to use skillful carving, detailed carving and hollowing techniques to express the viewing effect of the entire artwork.

The second picture is an ivory carving. It is illegal to buy and sell ivory now, but we can still see ivory carvings in museums. The biggest feature of ivory carving is that it is delicate and ingenious. Wood carving is both delicate and ingenious, while ivory carving is both delicate and ingenious. The two have slightly different focuses, but the elements involved are relatively similar.

Here we need to think carefully. Wood and ivory are both opaque materials, and the surface reflectivity is relatively poor. In order to highlight the layering of the finished product, a large amount of carving and hollowing out are necessary on the details. The characteristics of jade are the opposite.

When you see the promotional pictures of jade carvings, don’t you think they are particularly plain and simple? This is because not only jadeite, but many types of jade have a certain degree of transparency and a strong sense of reflectivity on the surface. At this time, the focus of carving is to retain the outline, increase round surfaces and planes as much as possible, reduce edges and corners through round surfaces and planes, and make use of the reflection of the surface as much as possible to bring a sense of layering. This is the thinking of jade carving. It is precisely this kind of detail carving that the public likes very much, which will destroy the beauty of jade carving. You may wish to appreciate the jade carvings around you again with this point of view.