China Venus
Click on the photos to see an enlarged version
Rudy van de Kerkhof of Hattem, Holland bought this little statue in Shanghai as a jade carving from
the Hongshan culture.
Height 6.7 cm.
Note that it is very probable that this is either a copy or simply a recreation in the same tradition as a genuine carving from the period.
Photos: by kind permission of Rudy van de Kerkhof, from the MTL-Brocante collection
Text below adapted from http://www.thejadetrade.com/ian/p1b.html
The Hongshan Neolithic Culture dates from 4500-2250 B.C. The Hongshan were mainly located in the area between Inner Mongolia and present day Liaoning and Hebei provinces (new evidence reveals possible settlements in the Yangtze River area).
The Hongshan were temple builders and city builders who created some of the earliest nephrite jade carvings. Their sophisticated Jade carving techniques employed sophisitcated technologies. Many of the Hongshan Jade artifacts are well persevered due to the fact that Hongshan culture utilized slab burial tombs and because of the dry arid climate of Inner Mongolia. Perhaps the most famous Hongshan Jade artifact is the Coiled Dragon Fetus. It has recently been discovered that the Hongshang possessed some knowledge of metallurgy and employed the use of copper or possibly iron tools to work their jade masterpieces. Many Hongshan artefacts show evidence of the use of saw blades and drill instruments, reflecting the fact that they were a highly technologically advanced civilization. Currently there is no known artefact evidence from other Neolithic cultures that show evidence of metal tools usage to shape jade during this very early period.
This page last modified Wednesday 14 March 2007
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