Mid-20th-Century Chinese Jadeite Vase
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GUEST:
Well, I know it's a carved jade vessel and we got it in an estate sale about 18 years ago in Nashville. And I really don't know a whole lot about it.
APPRAISER:
Being an art appraiser is a little bit like being a detective. So one of the very first things that I notice is the material, this icy white color. And if you looked at it really carefully, you'd see that it had a granular kind of structure. This is a material called jadeite. And jadeite is characterized by brilliant emerald-green splashes of color that can range down to kind of a pale-green tone, which is what you have with your example. So we don't have those brilliant emerald-green splashes, which are the most desirable, but on the other hand, it's a large piece of stone that's been carved into a form, which is the second clue. It is a Chinese form. This particular shape is a shape that originated in China from an early period of time, from the Ming Dynasty, all the way through to the present day. Now, the other clue is the decoration, and if you look at this, you see the kind of foliate carved handles. And the loose rings. And the loose rings are there purposely just to show the skill of the carver. And the decoration itself on the main body is an image of a Chinese figure called Guanyin, generally known as the goddess of mercy. On this side, she's accompanied by a carp, which is symbolic of good luck. And we flip it around to the other side, and there we see Guanyin also in a different manifestation with swirling robes, and it's very finely carved. This particular kind of form where you see the very delicate carving is a type of motif that was inspired from Indian Mughal jade carvings. And the nature of the way this is carved, it's actually a fairly heavy vase, and it's fairly thickly sided. Well, the earlier ones and the ones from the early 20th century are very, very thin. So this is something that I would say would likely date from the first quarter to the first half of the 20th century, and they're made for decorative purposes. It's a very nice, big version. So what did you pay for this?
GUEST:
I think we paid approximately around $500.
APPRAISER:
And you've had some people tell you that it's worth how much?
GUEST:
Well, some people said $1,200 to $1,500.
APPRAISER:
I would say in an auction market, this is likely to realize somewhere between $12,000 and $18,000 in today's market.
GUEST:
All right, great.
APPRAISER:
So that's a pretty good bit of compounded interest, isn't it?
GUEST:
Tenfold or so. Yes, I couldn't put money in the bank for that.
APPRAISER:
I think so. Were this from the late Qing dynasty, it would be valued in the $150,000 to $250,000 range.
Appraisal Details
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