Featured Is this Foo Dog family carved from jade

I picked up this beautiful piece a while back at auction and kinda forgot that I had it. Sad. I have never had anything jade so I am not sure what I am looking for. I've researched it some but I just want to be sure. This thing is close to 14 inches long. Weighs almost 9 pounds. Please let me know if I need to give more information. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

I have never seen a foo dog with a litter of pups/cubs! Cool carving!

Sorry I have no info just comment, lol.

 

Take them to someone who has a gem tester

 

Thanks for responding. I hadn't either! I had to have it...I have no idea why

 

It is likely Nephrite. Is the sculpture cold to the touch?

 

Hi. Yes it is cold to the touch.

 

Bowenite to my eyes.
Interesting Foo family group!

 

Cold is a good sign. There is a scratch test but I wouldn't do that to a sculpture. Any pawn shop or jewelry store will have a gem tester. Let us know what you find out! It is a fun piece.

 

That is very cool! I hope you can find a place to fit it into your decor.

 

I am pretty sure it's actually Jadeite as Nephryte is typically alot less translucent and also mostly brown. Put a light behind it. It should shine through. Then look at the light reflecting off of the surface. Does it look kind of like wax? That's Jade. Glass would obviously be glossy as opposed to semi gloss. (I would bet this is Jadeite if it's Jade for real which I think so).

You say 9 pounds? For the figure that it is, that's an expensive piece. Congrats! I absolutely love Jade.

 

Thank you so much for the information! I tried to capture how the light comes through this piece. The bodies of the dogs overlap so much that not much light through, but on the legs and such it does. Here is a pic:

 

Its not letting upload or paste an image...I will try another way

1 by colonelmustard posted Aug 17, 2021 at 10:25 AM

 

I will! Thank you

 

Very cute family colonel, but I am with the others, have it tested with a gemstone tester.

Nephrite occurs in several colours but is mostly green, and it can be as translucent as these Foo lions. Like this New Zealand nephrite pendant:

 

Beautiful pendant.
These gem testers...would a jeweler be able to test or should find my way to a local pawn shop? Sorry for the noob question...but again I am not familiar with this at all. Thanks

 

Oh...oops I saw someone who posted before you that those places should be able to test.