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Message:: [QUOTE="Any Jewelry, post: 340350, member: 2844"]It is very pretty, Rastella.The character on the vase is not a signature, but this character: 福, for happiness and longevity. It is one of the most popular characters on Chinese items.Jade can be carved and has been for thousands of years, what the info on the site should have said is that it can't be carved using a knife. That goes for a lot of precious stones. China is gemstone country, and the Chinese have made these delightful little scenes using their favourite stones for a very long time, just like the flowerpots with semi-precious stones or glass. These pretty shadowboxes were made in their thousands, with different backgrounds, execution of frames, etc. Favourite finishes for the frames were, as always with Chinese crafts, rosewood and lacquer. Many 'rosewood' frames were made of cheaper woods, stained to look like rosewood. Your frame is clearly stained, the inside is a very light colour. The point people have been trying to make is not that your item isn't jade, etc, but that it has many, many siblings. It is not artist signed, nor artist made. It is factory made, several people worked on the details, one person would be carving little vases all day, etc, etc. These people were not artists, and the carving of the pieces shows that. It is not contrived simplicity, it is just what they could do within their own limitations and the set production time limit. The finished pieces were assembled by yet more people, who used templates.The carved flowers, leaves, vases, etc would be used for different compositions.Chips on the glass do not indicate it was handcut, just that the edge is chipped, with no real finish.And as Holly said, the carving of the designs on the jade is left rough, it isn't polished. Lovely though it is, this is not a work of art.[/QUOTE]

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