Imitation but not fake
Hi Michel Lee, curator at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (Östasiatiska Museet), where Liu Chien-Kuang has done his research on jade for the SAK Edition project ”Stone from other Mountain”.
What are the characteristics of jade and in which parts of the world can it be found?
– Jade is a mineral that has been used by many cultures throughout the world and has been prized for its hardness, colours, and often translucency. Some of the cultures that held jade in high esteem include the Olmec and Maya cultures of Mesoamerica, the Maori people of present-day New Zealand, and also in China, starting with various Neolithic cultures and continuing into the present day. – There are two main types of jade, classified as nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite can come in a range of colours, including black, brown, green and white. The colours of jadeite tend to be more vibrant compared to nephrite and ranges from bright green, to yellow and lavender. Jadeite is harder than nephrite, but both are harder than steel and require diamond or other very hard abrasive to shape. – Jade can be found in various parts of the world, including North America, Central America, Central Asia, New Zealand and Siberia. Taiwan was also a source of jade stone that was used by various indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia.
Jade has been connected with for exampel luck and health qualities. Would you give us a few examples of how it has been used historically and how is it used today?
– The Spanish used jade as a cure for ailments of the loins and kidneys, which was first recorded in the sixteenth century. – In China, jade has been a special material since Neolithic times. The stone’s translucency, attractive colours and hardness made it a special, even spiritual, material to various Neolithic cultures within the confines of present-day China. These qualities continue to be appreciated within Chinese culture today, even amongst Chinese diaspora and overseas communities. Today, jades are worn for both physical and spiritual protection by many Chinese. Since at least the Bronze Age in China, jade was thought to have protective qualities that would preserve the body after death. Suits made from jade plaquettes and sewn together with metal (sometimes gold) thread can be found covering entire bodies from elite burials dating to the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). – The stone’s qualities carry symbolic significance. The hardness, combined with its translucency and colours, have given many associations with the stone, including immortality, purity and nobleness. Emperors of the past sometimes used jade powder as an ingredient for elixirs meant to grant them immortality. In the present day, jade pendants in the forms of various deities or mythical animals are sometimes used for the protection of the wearer, or to give them luck. The elderly may wear jade bangles to protect their bones in case of a fall. – For Chinese diaspora, jade can sometimes be a symbol of identity. The belief in the protective qualities of jade or its symbolisms has also spread to countries and cultures neighbouring China, including Vietnam and Korea.
In his project, Liu Chien-Kuang imitates the highly valued jade with mouth-blown glass, a series of works that will be at the same time authentic in its craftmanship – and an imitation. Has it been a common practice historically to imitate jade with less expensive material?
– My own area of specialization is Chinese art, so I will mainly present from the perspective of imitation of the material within China, where people have been using one material to imitate another material for thousands of years. The reasons for imitation include to deceive, replace, as well as to show off skill and technology for amusement. Glass has long been one of the substitutes for a range of semi-precious stones in China, particularly jade. Glass could have been a cheaper material to be used as burial goods.
– At the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, there are glass objects in the collection already from the Han dynasty that imitate jade. Jesuit missionaries were employed during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) to help experiment with glass and enamels in the imperial workshops. Glass was used to imitate, but not fake, a range of materials, such as jade, coral, amber and agate.
– People throughout the world have always used one material to imitate more precious materials, and the reasons are not always to fake. In my opinion, Liu Chien-Kuang’s works are another example of using glass, in a playful way, to imitate other materials.
Would you tell us a little bit about the collection of jade at Östasiatiska museet?
– The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm holds one of the most important collections of East Asian art and archaeology in the world, particularly from China. The jade collection is one of its highlights, numbering around one thousand objects. They range in date from as early as around 5,000 BCE to the twentieth century. The glass collection at the Museum is also one of the most comprehensive collections of Chinese glass in Europe and numbers over three hundred objects.
If you want to know more and hear Michel talk about jade, have a listen to the podcast ”Inside the Box” episode 15. You can find it on Spotify.
Intervju: Anna Hesselbom
Från Röhsskas samlingar FOTO: Carl Ander
Die Young blow up FOTO: Erika Kristofersson Bredberg
Väldigt gammalt glas
Ett av de äldsta skapade glasföremålen finns på The British Museum i London. Det är ett litet fragment av blått glas som hittades i Eridu, i nuvarande Irak och blev en del av museets samling 1919.
Museets beskrivning av objektet lyder: ”Lump of translucent blue glass; on one side probably broken off from a larger lump; on the other sides the surface looks as if it is original; very bubbly; transmits light along the edges; surface turned greyish.” Det är något magiskt med detta lilla fragment, denna ’lump’.
Objektet är från 2050 f.Kr, det vill säga mer än 4000 år gammalt.
Flytande mening
Allt annat än råa fragment är den amerikanska konstnären Roni Horns (f. 1955) serie glasobjekt som hon började arbeta med på 90-talet. Verken är glascylindrar där innanmätet ser ut att vara flytande. Det är opakt på utsidan men dess inre är transparant och speglar sin omgivning. Jag har sett varianter av Horns glasverk på olika platser och de griper tag varje gång. I Oslos skulpturpark, Ekebergparken finns Horns Air Burial. Air Burial syftar på den tibetanska begravningsritualen där den avlidna placeras på en bergstopp, utsatt för väder och vind. Horns vita cylinder står i skogen och med tiden kommer även den övertas av växtlighet och påverkas av vädrets makter. Den speglar trädkronorna och himlen.
