Featured Asian items, a little info please?

Hi all. Picked these up for practically pennies,under NO illusion they are rare or expensive ! But I am interested in finding out about them. The knife(?) thing is 2 1/2 inches long,the glass(?) bead thing is 1 3/4 inches long. Tourist tat ? Any input is always appreciated.

 

look like jade carving type things..
the 2nd....a pendant...

 

Chinese. The first one is an archaic-inspired soapstone or possibly serpentine carving. The nice thing is that it is a tiger on a tiger's claw.
The second one looks like white jade, although the last picture looks a bit celadon green.

 

I know that mutton fat jade is sought after......
how can you tell the difference between white jade and the other...?

 

Mutton fat jade is nephrite jade, it has a softer, buttery look and feel, and is not pure white.
If this is white jade, it is likely to be jadeite jade, which has a harder, glassy look. Most jadeite jade used in China is actually mined in Burma.

 

Thanks! Id have never thought tiger tooth! Heres another pic to show the color.Wich jade is more desirable?

 

nephrite

 

Nephrite is the collector's jade, jadeite is for those who like bling. Nephrite is for the old Chinese scholars and aristocracy, bright jadeite became popular when the merchant classes started to make money. A Chinese case of too much money and no taste. But jadeite pieces can be very beautiful and also very expensive.
At the moment the most expensive Chinese jade is Hetian (Hotan) nephrite, from the western Sinjiang Province (Uyghur territory).

Some nephrite is very much like jadeite and vice versa. On the last picture your pendant is more celadon green, it could be Xiu nephrite jade. Could you take a picture without too many reflections? One way to do that is put a white lampshade over the pendant and photograph through the hole in the top. I always use one of those Modernist half globe shades, they have no metal construction that gets in the way. Make sure you have some natural light (window, door) from one side, that way it shows detail.

 

This is so cool! Thanks!

 

Believe it or not but all my white lamp shades are lined,so I tried this,hopefullythey are better? thanks again for your input.

 

Right, next on the list, Modernist half globe shades.
It is still a very shiny object, but I could make out two phoenixes and a brocade ball. So I took the liberty of editing one of your older pictures and turning it around:



The brocade ball is that round thing, bottom centre. It stands for the Buddhist pearl of wisdom. On either side a phoenix, the symbol of yin, the female, etc. principle. Their heads meet in the middle, facing each other. The long tail feathers curl upward and cover the rest of the jade.
From what I can see it is Xiu nephrite jade.
This pendant would have been on a silk cord with a tassel at the bottom. Like this one, except yours had the cord going through it, which is nicer:


https://www.etsy.com/listing/221326358/vintage-chinese-carved-jade-nephrite

 

Which reminds me.

 

Nice use of the colouring of the stone.
The round symbol is the Shou symbol of longevity, the bats also stand for longevity. The silk knot is known as an endless knot, which stands for eternity.

 

I thought that about the stone, too. Came from the same woman on Sunday who sold me many other goodies for very few pennies.

 

The stone is Shoushan stone. It is used a lot for those beautiful Chinese seals.
Chinese scholars, who were held in high regard, loved Shoushan stone.
Here is a Shoushan seal which also has a bit of red in it:

 

Any jewelry,thank you so very much ! i can say without hesitation Id have NEVER figured that out! Thank you for such wonderful information and your time.

 

Pleasure, Johnny.