Featured Small cloisonné pot turquoise & stone tree

I have owned this for years. Would love some help with describing and dating. While it’s in fragile condition, what I am hoping to learn from anyone is whether it is in fragile condition(as it was when I first aquired it), due to age or poor maintenance over the years(possibly both?). Can this be dated by its material and design? Behind each flower are little metal sepals as seen clearly in photo 7. This is something I have little knowledge of. Have seen many jade trees out there, but this is very different.

Then cloisonné measures 4.25”L X 2.5”H with the entire item 10”H. The first image is taken indoors. The rest are outdoor lighting.

As always thanks to all for looking.

 

Just one more…

 

Excellent photos. From the pot and tree, I think might be as early as late nineteenth. Nice thing.

 

Agree. Not many of this age have survived.
The turquoise is Hubei turquoise. Hubei is still one of the main turquoise regions of the world.

It is antique, but it is also fragile because of the turquoise. A lot of turquoise is brittle, and nowadays such brittle stones are 'stabilized' with epoxy.
Your turquoise was probably stabilised using beeswax or animal fat, which has also become brittle over the years. There are also some old repairs.

 

It needs a nice glass dome.

 

*Thanking both of you* is there a common name used for this type? Is stabilizing with, say some warm beeswax something I could do with a small soft painters brush or better left for the professionals? I really love the idea of a glass dome and think that would do wonders for the display.

I was wondering about the type of turquoise, thanks again AJ for that. Some how I knew you would be able to tag that.

‘sorry for all the questions

 

I believe they 'boiled' the stones so they became infused with fat. It isn't something you can do with a paintbrush, you would only add a layer to the outside which is not transparent enough to see the beauty of the stone properly.

So do I.

That's what the forum is for.

 

YIKES! well that’s out of my wheelhouse.

 

"Don't try this at home".

 

I saw this thing's modern cousin in a store today. Made of multiple stones, but not turquoise; the modern makers aren't crazy enough. I was severely tempted by the modern cousin, but it had an integral ... bashed ... handle on its basket. Marco's is in oddly better condition in some ways.

 

I’d just clean it gently with a soft old paintbrush and blow on it. Maybe a cotton bud, damp, on the leaves, and wipe the pot with a damp micro fibre cloth. And then, yes, the dome.

 

Will do, and will update a photo when cleaned. Another when I get a dome. *thumbs up*

 

You could also try a hairdryer on cool to shift dust. I’d not use compressed air, too harsh. It’s a lovely thing.

 

I use a soft make up brush for jobs like this.

 

Similar potted "trees", and not anywhere near as nice as your old one, are still sold in the gift shops in our Chinatown area. We always called them "jade trees" because instead of the turquoise stone, little glass stones -- green, white and lavender -- are used for leaves. The pot on yours is lovely!

 

Yup, makeup brushes are good.