Featured Jade paperweight - antique or not

Thank you for your thoughtful response. You're right, there are no scuffs that you get with use. There are uneven and crude edges and tiny gouges but I don't know if this is because it was carved by hand or machine. As I said the closest I ever gotten to an actual antique Jade craving was through a museum window or on a free standing mounting that you were not allowed to get too close to. I am perfectly happy with it being 20th century, as none of my dozen of so paperweights are antique. (When I worked, I used them to decorate my desk.)The original paper tag said Antique Chinese Jade Paperweight $645, but I didn't buy it because it was an antique but because I like Jade and the design had a juxtaposition of fluidity and solidity that appealed to me. I only spent $60.

 

Any Jewelry. Thanks for weighing in. I don't have a gem tester, as I don't have any gems except for the sapphires I "mined" myself. I think it's jade for the following reasons. There are varied blobs and strands of brown intermixed and not in strategic places. There are small bits of bright green on the underside. In addition, the color is varied throughout the piece leading me to believe it is natural rather than glass. Could it be another kind of rock? I'm sure it could. I'll take it to my next rock lovers meeting and ask. Kiko

 

I really appreciate all your comments. I was hoping for antique meaning used and loved before, but since I bought this online I knew I was taking a chance. $60 seemed like a small price to pay for it. Learning from you all helps me better understand what to look for. Kiko

 

It's nice and eye catching for sure. So your saying the original price tag was 645 online but the seller sold it to you for 50.00? If that's the case it sounds like it's probably fake.

 

It was an online auction through Live Auctioneers. The actual auction company is Helm Auctions. They had a number of things from Rosenstein Antiques that had paper tags taped to them. The tag said Antique Chinese Jade Paperweight $645. I gave this no regard, so I had hoped from some insights from all of you.

 

@KikoBlueEyes, I'm with you for jade because of the same clues I noticed
Pretty paperweight for 60$

 

I give you a trick we use professionally to determine the age of engraving on glass etc…
If you have access to a good magnifier or a good macro lens, look at the marks made by the stone used for engraving, since 1900 they are synthetic stones used, before they were natural stones cut to make a round piece, the dimensions of the components are totally of the same dimension on synthetic stones then if you look the engraving and it has marks of the same aspect then it's after 1900, if it's made with diamond wheel, the finish is a lot more regular, look perfect, no variations, i hope you understand my explanation.
We use this technique especially on engraved glass because they are some wise guys who take antique glass and make embellishment, forgeries in fact!!!

 

Lecollectionneur. That's great information and what I was hoped for. I have a loupe, which does me a fat lot of good as I don't know what I am looking for but I took some pictures through it and the cuts look irregular in width and shape. Can you discern anything from these? Sorry about the quality.

 

People were still using natural stone grinding wheels after 1980... in fact I was using stone wheels on glass through the 1990's as were thousands of people.

 

Hollyblue I appreciate your comments, but what I think Lecollectionneur was saying that one means of identifying antiques was this method. If I was to find something with regular cuts, I could dismiss this our of hand. I don't think he intended to say that no one used natural stone grinding tools to create art objects after the 1980s, but only that a fake could be discerned in this way. Kiko

 

Maybe it was the context of the comment,an over generalization of techniques and tools used.The holes in your piece mean little as far as dating,pieces locked into a stable precision machine like a CNC router will look "perfect". Any thing held by hand and using hand tools for the most part will have irregular holes,curves,etc. A fake might be easy to be noticed that an antique has been modified with modern tools,but if original type tools are used some experts cannot tell what is what.

 

Hollyblue. My little Jiaolong/panlong and I appreciate you taking the time and care for such detailed explanations. I am eager to learn all I can. Clearly you have some expertise in this area, and I want to hear all you have to offer.

 

Kiko, what is needed for this test is only this part, not too difficult with a macro lens but very difficult directly like that, you can take pictures through a 10 centimeters magnifying glass used for philately with good results for example.
I can have access to polished steel blades used to learn those differences but not at this time as all is closed for holidays and it's 50 kilometers from my home but I want to look in my workshop if I can have some to show you the effects of stone grinding.

Sorry, and thanks for your post but what I can see on the YouTube in link is not a natural stone, without more precision, just looking at the finish it's clear that it's a synthetic stone, on this screen part for example.

With natural stone you can't work so fast in part because their lead center is very fragile(and no more authorised by work health legislation in my country), but if you know somebody who has natural stones(in usable condition) for sale I'm interested because we need some to make some experimentation with them in group work about redecorated glass in the past made like embossed english victorian on antique silver or actual forgeries.
It's not my method to be more precise but it's used in a lot of auction houses and museums.
I learn that years ago and it has only interest for pieces redecorated, not for making new items as it's near impossible to make glass now like in the 18th century for example outside of archeological industry studies.

 

You can also use a loupe to verify if it is jade, which I agree is very likely, but I always want to be sure.
Looking at jade through a loupe you can see irregular crinkly structures which look like wool threads from a torn jumper. Rather messy looking, but that is what you want.

I think you got a very good deal, whatever the age. Jade doesn't have to be antique to be beautiful. It is gorgeous, although I am having a little trouble seeing the design in all the contrast. That is just my funny eyes though.
Being antique would add an extra dimension to it, but then again, many of those intricate pieces are 20th-21st century. I also buy them if the price is right, they are a marvel in their own right.

 

Whatever the age.....I love this piece..!! I would have bought it in a heartbeat for that price... It is beautiful and very interesting...

 

I've seen recent ones sold for 5 numbers by auctioneers, they are made by national treasure workers with ancestral techniques, and some really nice ones were made especially for french "haute couture" jewellery during the art deco period as pendants.

You can found refringence(not sure about this word) controlling light for not a lot on Ebay my wife said.

 

JFF: i remember (when i was very young) being told that if you tie a strand of hair to jade and light it, it will not burn if the jade is real ...... with reference to chinese jade bangles
is this true??
JFF = just for fun

@KikoBlueEyes nice piece, i would use it every day

 

A refractive index meter?

Edit: I just read reflectivity meter or refractometer somewhere.