Karen Clark, age 13, of Nampa, Ids., for her question:
WHEN WAS JADE FIRST CARVED?
Jade is a compact, opaque gemstone that ranges in color from dark green to almost white. The earliest known carved jades were made in China during the New Stone Age about 4000 B.C. The carved jades were usually fashioned as blades, although it is unclear whether they served a utilitarian or ceremonial function.
Jade is the term applied to specimens cut from the minerals jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite, the less common and more highly prized of the two minerals, is a silicate of sodium and aluminum, usually containing some iron, calcium and magnesium.
Excavations conducted at sites settled during the Shan dynasty in China between 1766 and 1027 B.C. have yielded a number of carved jades in a variety of forms. The most beautiful examples are small sculptures and plaques that were discovered in 1975 in an undisturbed tomb.
The 1975 discovery yielded the richest group of ancient jade carvings to date. There were plaques depicting dragons and birds along with miniature sculptures of human figures, mythical creatures and recognizable animals, including elephants.
Jade was used in ancient times for weapons, utensils and ornaments. Jade has always been prized by the Chinese and Japanese as the most precious of all stones, and the most beautiful specimens of carved jade in the form of vases, bowls, tablets and statues, many of which are now museum pieces, were made in China.
Jade is a highly valued gemstone today and it is used in rings, necklaces, earrings and other articles of jewelry.
The achievements of the Shang jade carvers were adopted and ultimately surpassed by artists of the Chou dynasty (1027 to 256 B.C). Surface decoration became increasingly sophisticated, with openwork featuring birds and dragons, as well as tiny, individually carved figures. Development of the iron drill is probably responsible for the technical advancements.
Elaborate jade carving continued in popularity during the Nan dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220). A most notable jade artifact of this time was the so called funerary suit. Various excavations have yielded corpses encased in a jade form made of thousands of rectangular pieces of jade, sewn together with gold thread, and fitted to the body.
Other small jades, previously objects for burial, were now fashioned for the uses of the living. Toilet boxes, drinking vessels and beautiful adornments for the scholar's desk have been preserved from the Han era.
During the Tang dynasty (183 to 906) and the Sung dynasty (960 to 1279), carvers went in for fine jewelry of jade, especially bracelets and hair ornaments.
China's continuous interest in jade carving was never found in other Asian nations. The Indians, however, practiced a degree of jade work. The most important center of jade carving outside the
Orient was pre Columbian Mexico and Central America under the Olmex, Aztec and Mayan rulers. Artists made ceremonial objects such as axes, knives, masks and large animal figures.