Jadeite Quan Yin Kwan Yin Guan Yin

The beautiful, serene face of the Goddess of Mercy

Overview 
You are looking at a massive jadeite statue on a rosewood stand and the lighted glass display case, both of which are included in the sale. This is the best Quan Yin carving I have ever seen. Period.

That's a bold statement but let me explain. The first and most important thing to look for in carving quality is the face. There are many many Quan Yin statues out there, but many do not have a beautiful symmetrical and proportional face. This Quan Yin has the Golden Ratio written all over it. Elegant yet youthful, strong yet peaceful--she is in perfect harmony and will bring that feeling to your home as well.

Second, look at her clothes. They flow outwards naturally. You can almost imagine them in motion as the wind gently caresses her silk garments. Many carvers do not have the skill to delicately carve this, and take a shortcut by carving clothes as if they were pressed up against the body via static cling.

Guan Yin--literally meaning "The one who perceives the sounds of the world" is the universal savior from suffering and ignorance. The first thing to look for in carvings is the face and the hands. This Guan Yin's face is the most peaceful and serene and beautiful I have seen in a jadeite sculpture. The massive piece jadeite used to carve this statue has an incredible smooth even color and fine texture. Made from lavender, white, and green Burmese Jade, otherwise known as jadeite. Three color statues are auspicious because they represent Fu, Lou, and Shou.

Flowing silk clothing

STOP! The dangers of purchasing jade 
Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many jadeite statues being sold fraudulently online. The first thing I see are pictures using various artificial lights, which can give color to the jade when none exists naturally. Always ask for pictures under bright natural light.

The second thing I see very often is doctored photos where the color is enhanced. With my experience I can tell right away, but unfortunately not everyone can.

The third possibility is unnatural treated jade, which actually changes the chemical composition so it's no longer jade. It's closer to a piece of plastic. There are many methods to artificially enhance jade’s color and clarity. With some so advanced even a jeweler using a loupe cannot tell, a certificate of authenticity from a gem laboratory can help. The problem is not all labs are created equal. There are hundreds of small labs in China, and for outsiders who knows which one has a good reputation. GIA is trusted worldwide. It is an education and research institution first--not a for-profit certificate factory. That is why I have my jade GIA certified.

GIA Certified 100% Natural 
Scan the QR code on my certificate or go here directly: https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=1186811933 Jade as an investment? It would be a lie to tell you that jade is guaranteed to increase in value, but I can say with confidence it will at the very least hold it's value. Jade is a commodity, much like gold or diamonds. It is used in jewelry and the 10,000 year old fondness for jade in China is not going away. Jade is mined faster than the earth can produce it. Making a jade statue like this, is like making a statue out of gold or diamonds.

Jade Quality 
People new to jade often make comparisons based on the dimensions or the weight alone. The color, clarity, and texture (smooth and even colors) of the jade is a large factor. This statue is jewelry quality and a similar sized statue with lower quality jade could easily be 1/10 the value. Then you have to factor in the carving quality, which is subjective, but if you pay attention you can tell which carvings have great detail and artistic skill and which look like they were carved with a butter knife.

Pictures
I have included pictures in the display cabinet as well as in natural sunlight.

Questions 
Feel free to ask any questions. Use the contact form on the right side of the page.

Size
40.57 lbs (18.4 kg) 20.95" x 11.97" x 3.66" (53.2 x 30.4 x 9.3 cm)

Shipping
Free shipping worldwide through a private courier. 1-7 days domestic depending on your location.

The Hetian jade craze and all the people cheating you!

Ming era mutton fat jade fish?

When I was purchasing my Hetian jade, I was very careful.  I was tricked a few times after sending the piece to a lab only to find out that it had an organic colored coating that I couldn't detect with my loupe.  Here are some answers to what this Hetian jade craze is about and some tips for purchasing.

What is Hetian jade?

Hetian jade is mainly the mineral tremolite.  For those unaware, tremolite has the same chemical structure as nephrite, but it has less iron and more magnesium.  As a result, Hetian jade tends to be more white than green, and the hardness is 5-6 on the Moh's scale, versus nephrite's 6 - 6.5.  Impurities can cause colors such as yellow, brown, red, purple, etc.  I have not yet learned the objective cutoff for iron/magnesium content to separate tremolite and nephrite.

Hetian jade is one of the Four Classic Jades used to make Imperial Seals in ancient times, and it get's it's name from the town of Hetian in southwestern Xiniiang province, China.  Historically, Hetian was a major oasis town during the ancient Silk Road.

During the springtime, as the snow melts in the Kunlun Mountains, small smooth jade pebbles are brought down the mountain to the riverbed.  This jade is known as the "seed" type.  "Mountain water" type are the larger smooth jade boulders found in the Kunlun mountains which transported by floods and glaciers.  Finally, you have the largest boulders extracted from the mines deep in the mountain classified as the "mountain" type.  The seed type is the most treasured of the three due to the color and texture, where even the smooth raw pebbles sculpted only by the river water are collected as is.  The most prized Hetian jade color is called "mutton fat" or "suet", which gets its name for it's pale color and greasy (shiny) luster.

Over the past 15 years or so the price has skyrocketed over 10,000 times (yes, 10,000 times I'm not kidding), causing a tremendous "jade rush" into the region.  Many local blue collar workers have quit their jobs to hunting for jade in the mountains and rivers, or becoming the middlemen between miners and jade wholesale dealers.

Hetian jade classification and fakes

Just like all Chinese classifications for precious stones, Hetian classifications are loose and/or impossible to enforce objectively.  Let's start with the simplest classification and the most difficult to enforce; to Hetian jade it must be tremolite found in Hetian or the Kunlun mountain side facing Hetian.  There is a lot of jade from Qinghai province, which is also a tremolite but found on the other side of the Kunlun mountains in Qinghai province, being imported into the Hetian jade market and sold as Hetian jade.  The same goes for Russian aka Siberian jade, which is also another tremolite jade.

What's the difference between all of them?  Multiple jade dealers told me Qinghai white jade is a more pure white color than Hetian white jade and more translucent, while Russian jade also tends to be more pure white but more opaque.

This is why many Qinghai and Russian white jades are dyed and sold as Hetian white jade.  Some big boulders are even carved to look like river pebbles first and then dyed a pale yellow.  He then showed me a piece of extremely white jade on the internet selling very cheap as Hetian jade.  It was extremely white, he said this is probably Russian jade sold as Hetian jade, which is why it's so cheap.  At the same time, he said if Hetian jade was really this white, it would be sold for 100 times as much.

So basically he just said that Qinghai and Russian white jade tends to be more white, but it's not a 100% distinguishing factor because even Hetian jade can be that color.  So even if you could objectively create a color scale and clarity scale like they have with diamonds, it doesn't apply 100% of the time.

The Chinese government has tried to enforce standards as to what is Hetian jade, using objective measurements such as specific gravity and the like, but it was unsuccessful in drawing a consensus so nothing happened.

Many of these Hetian jades will come with certificates from Chinese laboratories.  They will almost always declare a piece of tremolite as Hetian jade.  I was told as much by a jade dealer.  In fact I have never seen a certificate stating something was Russian or Qinghai jade.  He acknowledged that there is no scientific method to determine the provenance of a piece of jade, and they simply classify put "Hetian jade" as the result probably due to the urging of customers who wish to have their jade classified into a more valuable category.  Many of these certificates will also not test for natural color, which it should mention in the remarks section.  These types of certificates can be made in minutes and for a few RMB, so be careful when purchasing to read the certificate fully and verify the QR code.

Update: 12/7/2018
According to someone I met who works in a Chinese government certified gem laboratory, a few years ago the standards for what can be labeled Hetian jade were put into place.  Hetian jade's definition has broadened to basically include all stones that are over a certain percentage of tremolite (I forgot to ask what the exact percentage was).  I verified what he said via some internet articles on the matter as well, but they also did not list the percentage.

I am guessing the government had the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" attitude.  In other words, because there is no way to scientifically and conclusively prove the provenance of the stone, and because people were starting to be duped and to pay exorbitant prices for what they believed was Hetian jade, they made everything Hetian jade.  Now the power is back in the hands of the jade buyers, to pay based on what they happen to like instead of a dubious classification.

Genuine antique pieces
I'll make this short and simple.  Just like the provenance, there is no 100% way to know about an antique piece unless you pulled it out of someone's coffin yourself.  There is always a way for someone to be fooled.  Having said that, the common things like looking for tool marks is always a dead giveaway.  Don't be fooled by people throwing dirt into the crevices (yes they actually do that).

The mutton fat fiasco

Mutton fat jade used to be sent as tribute to the imperial court in Beijing and one carved piece in the Forbidden City weighs over five tons!

Simply put, Hetian Mutton fat jade (羊脂玉) has a high percentage of tremolite.  Not only are we talking about the lack of iron, but also other impurities.  The purer the tremolite the higher quality and the rarer the piece.

Pure tremolite has slight grayish cyan hue (in Chinese the term qīng sè 青色), a greasy luster, and is quite translucent.  It is actually not supposed to look like mutton fat, which is rather opaque and a yellowish beige.  The term mutton fat actually refers to the greasy feel of the jade.

Fresh mutton fat

This feel of the jade is the characteristic that obviously cannot be conveyed through pictures.  This is a characteristic of tremolite.  A high quality piece really feels wet and slippery even if your hands are relatively dry.

When I first held a piece I was amazed.  I rubbed my hands on my shirt to check if I had any moisture and I even rubbed the piece of jade dry with a cloth.  Despite this, it still felt slippery in my hands.

These requirements are quite subjective.  Just like with all other sub-classifications of jade (moss in snow, Imperial green), etc. there is no hard standard.  As a result there will always be someone (mostly other jade sellers) who will say that something is not "true mutton fat" jade.  Most of the time it is of true ignorance because they themselves have not seen the real thing, or they have read or learned from other sellers purposely spreading misinformation in an attempt to sell their own wares.

However, there are some cases that I have seen that I think most people, except the seller himself, will agree that is not mutton fat.

Truth be told, speaking about the greasy feel, the translucency and the color is just a primitive way to determine if the piece has a high percentage of tremolite or not.  It would be easier if a laboratory could give us some numerical data, but alas here we are.

Green mutton fat?

Go on eBay or any online auction site and search "mutton fat".  Undoubtedly you will see a lot of pale green jade coming up.  The above is too green in my opinion.

Far too opaque to be mutton fat

I saw this listed for an expensive price online.  It had a certificate listing it as natural so that's good.  The seller described it as mutton fat because it is "dense, as it should be".   Sorry, totally false.

By dense he is referring to how opaque it is.  Russian jade often times has this look due to the presence of dolomite. Most likely this is Russian jade.

I've seen worse examples online.  People just cling onto that term and apply it to anything because they know it is so valued, so it's hard to learn from looking at pictures online what mutton fat jade is really supposed to look like.

Tips for purchasing mutton fat jade

Just like with my general tips for purchasing jade, one of the first things you can do is to ask for pictures in sunlight if you are buying online.  This should produce the true color as interior lighting can add tints; yellow tints especially are common from light bulbs and that is something you definitely don't want.  Actually ask for a short video because even an iPhone has built in tools to adjust the color on photos.

If you are fairly sure of the color and luster, then the next question is if the stone is treated.  This is always the greatest problem and for this you will need a certificate.  Like I said, I'm not so sure of the requirements of Chinese certificates.  Each company is different.  Make sure it tests for no luster enhancements or topical colorations, as that will still pass the test to determine if it is really tremolite jade, but will fail you in determining if it's 100% natural.

Again, lab like GIA is unfortunately the only one I would trust.

Question: What's my jade (or any art) really worth?

Answer: What someone is willing to pay you.

That isn't a smart aleck answer.  Let me explain.

Generally when you get something appraised, the appraiser is estimating the maximum price most people would be willing to pay.  The way he does this is via comparisons to past sales for what he considers similar items.

The problem is no two pieces of art are the same.  It's not like doing a valuation on a used car where you have the same year, make, model and then simply adjust for mileage and condition.  

So let's say we are talking about jade sculptures.  You cannot show me two jade sculptures that are exactly the same.  First, the jade they are carved from are always going to be different, which effects the value.  Second, no two carvings are the same in terms of quality and what is considered "beautiful" is completely subjective.  Third, there are other factors which make something more or less desirable include the subject matter at hand (for one person this is better, for another it's something else), the size (some people like really big and grand, some people like small and delicate), etc.

Now actually some of the things I said about jade sculpture comparisons can be applied to appraisals for homes and cars too.  The difference is that cars and homes are generally purchased through bank loans, and the bank is very unemotional and conservative with their appraisals.  Also, the appraisals follow a certain formula that tempers price fluctuations; this is how you can compare a blue colored Ranch style 2500 sq ft house in one zip code with a white colored Colonial style 2300 sq ft house in the same zip code and be pretty confident in the numbers.

Think how different that is to a buyer in a store emotionally attached to some work or in a competitive bidding war with the B across the room with cash or credit card in hand and no need for a loan.  It's a totally different ballgame. 

So I'm not saying that appraisals are useless, but keep in mind that for such a thin and emotional based market, they aren't the most reliable.

I want to just share some God awful appraisals I've experienced personally out of sheer ignorance.

Sotheby's and Christie's only sell antique Chinese art, so I contacted some mid sized auction houses in Beverly Hills and Manhattan for some jadeite sculptures I had.  They were pretty clueless.  One person on their team assessed a sculpture I had at $3,000.  I told the guy, "This sculpture is 26 pounds and a translucent lavender and green jadeite.  Even 26 pounds of raw jadeite for people to cut into cabochons would sell for more than that".  He reluctantly agreed, but didn't want to raise his appraisal.

That piece sold for $55,000 via another auction house.

I had another jadeite piece that I wanted to sell quickly.  I thought eBay might be a good way to go because I saw many pieces of jadeite on there.  However, I found out that because I had no experience on eBay, I wouldn't be able to list my item starting at $10,000; it would have to be much lower.  

Later, I happened to meet someone who sold a variety of "Asian antiques" on eBay.   I thought that he could list it for me and I would give him commission.  Again he wasn't too knowledgeable on the subject.  He was another one of those, "Only Antique 'Asian' items are valuable.", type of guys.  He did a quick search on eBay for what recently sold and he valued my piece at $2,000.  He was simply going by the size.  Not even the weight or volume, just the height.  He saw a piece of comparable height that was listed as "jade" and that's how he got his number.  Lukcily the piece was also jadeite, but it was gray, opaque, and the carving looked like it was done with a hammer.  I didn't even bother to explain the difference with my piece. 


That piece sold for the price I wanted through a private sale.

If it's not antique, it's crap!

The stupidest thing I have heard, is that the piece is not antique, therefore it's "just a decoration".  Well I really wonder what they think this 100 year old jade carving is if not a decoration.  A supercomputer?  

I understand the premium that is placed on a well preserved antique, but to denigrate a rare and beautiful piece of nature, like jade, transformed meticulously and delicately over the course of hundreds of hours of labor by a master craftsman as "just a decoration" is just insulting.  And it truly shows their view of Chinese art and culture as some sort of exotic tchotchke, where only the antique is valuable because it came from some backwards exotic old world.

The modern art world is all about being Avant-garde.  It's either about shocking people, or intensely underwhelming people.  It's about promoting a message, or having no message and letting all sorts of "art experts" make up a good story.  It's about taking the essence of those smug a-holes you meet in San Francisco, LA, or NY, condensing it, and then creating something tangible.

I'm just going to throw this out there--modern art is not about art, it's about the spectacle.  Sorry, but I'm not moved by a painting of a Campbell's soup can.  And I'm not going to value a painting more because it was half shredded.  Modern art is a cult of the narcissistic personality.  People are famous for their antics (Banksy), their political views (Ai Wei Wei), or just making something so ridiculous and being so narcissistic that you have the balls to tell others it's profound and awesome (Picasso).  Furthermore, it's fueled by idiots without a spine who just go along with what others say and are so afraid to say, "Why am I looking at this sculpture of a urinal?".  It's the The Emperor's New Clothes come to reality.

Duchamp. Is it a sculpture or a urinal, or just a urinal? What are his profound thoughts on society!?!?!?

Picasso. It takes guts to be proud of this.

A very theatrical move.  Are people in love with his artistic skill or his theatrics?

Ai Wei Wei. A pile of sunflower seeds.  No words necessary.

Warhol's soup can.  So profound.  Profoundly underwhelming.