JADEITE - Canadian Institute of Gemmology

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Carvings. As was noted early in the paper, most of the carved jade objects produced in China
historically were made from nephrite and not jadeite. From the late eighteenth century onwards,
however, carved objects made of jadeite began to appear in China. Today it is common practice to
use lower quality jadeite for carvings. Small carvings may be used as pendants. The value of carved
jadeite is determined by such factors as the intricacy of the design and the skill with which it is
executed.
Mesoamerican Jadeite Jewelry. The above discussion focuses on Chinese practices. Mention
should also be made of the types of objects made in ancient and modern Mesoamerica. In ancient
Mesoamerica all of the items known appear to have been used by elite members of these societies
either for personal adornment or for religious purposes. As Hirth and Hirth (1993: 173) note:
"Objects carved from jade, jadeite, and a variety of other semiprecious materials, highly valued... and
widely circulated in Mesoamerica... were used by high-ranking individuals to distinguish
themselves and express their exalted social position, ability, and linkage to superior social
networks." Among their functions was as a form of "'currency' used in establishing and regulating
social relations within and between societies."
Hirth and Hirth (1993: 178-187) and Garber, Grove, Hirth, and Hoopes (1993: 226-229)
mention that the following objects were made of jadeite by the ancient Maya (in southern Mexico,
Guatemala, and Belize): beads (plain and carved), pendants, pectorals (Hirth and Hirth, page 182,
"sawn into thin flat plates prior to shaping"), earflares, buttons, celts, spangles, inlays, mosaics (e.g.,
mosaic masks), and plaques (see Andrews 1986). There are also a variety of more esoteric items.
Adams (1977: 87), for example, mentions pieces shaped like "letter-openers" that were "probably
used for blood-letting in religious ritual" (also see Grove 1987). Lange (1993: 270-286) lists the
following items made by jadeite in Costa Rica: whole celts, half celts, and split celts (all three
commonly used as pendants); tubes (use uncertain, possibly placed in pierced septums; see Garber,
Grove, Hirth, and Hoopes 1993: 229); beads; ear spools; and miniature vessels (possibly for
storing narcotics for ritual use). The practice of making imitations of these pieces for purposes of
deception is long-standing. More recently imitations have been made legitimately as well. The
Aztec, too, made a variety of items for personal adornment out of jadeite. Among the more unusual
items, Vaillant (1965: 231) mentions Aztec nobles wearing "lip ornaments" made of jadeite. He also
describes (page 236) a large stone statue of the god Huitzilopochtli being "covered with a paste in
which were set jade, turquoise, gold, and seed pearls."
Modern Guatemalan lapidaries make two types of item from jadeite: replicas of ancient pieces
and modern jewelry. The modern items mainly consists of oval cabochons and beads. The
cabochons are set in gold, silver, or gold-plate as rings, earrings, and pendants (a vareity of such
items are illustrated in the Jades, S.A., Catalog 2000).