Author Description

Nearly a decade in the making, Later Chinese Jades is the definitive guide to Chinese jades from the Ming dynasty through the early twentieth century. This was a particularly rich period in jade production. As this book reveals—based on the most current scholarship—many jade objects previously thought to be of ancient manufacture were actually produced in these later periods. Later Chinese Jades includes contributions by three of the museum's curators of Chinese art. He Li places Chinese jades in the cultural context of the Ming and Qing periods. Michael Knight considers jades from these periods and explains the importance of archaism—the imitation of ancient styles and forms—in later jadework. Terese Tse Bartholomew explores connections between Chinese and Mughal jade workers and illuminates the symbolism of jade objects. These essays make a significant contribution to the understanding of Chinese jade. Nearly four hundred jade objects are considered in individual object entries, making this is an essential text for anyone with a serious interest in Chinese jades.