The Best Soapstone and Quartz of China and Japan

Stones like the soapstone and quartz are rarelywas carved with consummate skill in both Classical
known but they have significant importance inand Renaissance times. Examples of European work
countries like China in their religious life besides theirare seldom seen outside the principal museums, and
other uses in articles and figure. Here you will knowthe magnificence of most of the surviving specimens
more of them in more details.is a clear indication of why they were, and are still, so
Soapstonehighly valued. Specimens of Chinese carved rock
After jade, the principal stone carved by the Chinesecrystal are sometimes to be seen. They take similar
is soap-stone, a very soft material varying in colourforms to jade, and both vases and figures were
from a light brow or pale green to a distinctive richmade.
and deep red. It is easily scratched with a pin andHard stones of many kinds were used for the
reduces to a white powder; it breaks without muchmaking of decorative panels, known as Pietre Dure
difficulty, and in spite of these obvious optimisticor Florentine Mosaics, for tabletops and other
owners of specimens sometimes miscall differencespurposes by the Italians. The Grand Duke of Tuscany
jade. In the eighteenth century it was often carvedstarted a workshop for this purpose at the end of
in the form of figures of the Immortals of the Taoistthe sixteenth century and, apart from specimens in
religion; more recently it has been used for vasesmuseums and collections all over the world, there is a
with carved and pierced ornament, and for wine- andmuseum in Florence devoted to the art (the Museo
teapots.dell' Opficio delle Pietre Dure). In addition to making
Old pieces of soapstone will be found to have beenpanels to form pictures in the manner of marquetry,
neatly and carefully finished, and to have a high polishbut using colored marbles and stones instead of
that is lacking in modern specimens. Many oldwood, other panels were made with the inset stones
examples have a subtlety of colour that is worthy ofcarved in relief: bunches of highly polished cherries
a more durable material.were a popular subject.
QuartzThe Japanese family of Shibayama introduced the
The Chinese into decorative vases and figuresinlaying of colored shell and other material into their
carved a pale pink-colored or a green-colored varietyivory carvings, and from this spread the inlaying of
of quartz. Most examples are clumsy in appearancehard stones, mother-of-pearl and anything else
and not very carefully carved; few are very old.considered suitable into panels of lacquer. All this inlaid
Other stoneswork is known as Shibayama, although it only faintly
Lapidaries in both East and West have used manyresembles the original work of the family.
other decorative stones, both large and small,; the listBooks
of them is too long and their descriptions tooJade is the subject of Chinese Jade throughout the
involved to be included here. However, mention mustAges, by S. C. Nott (1936); in which pieces are
be made of two of the more important.described and illustrated in black and white and in
Derbyshire Spar, known also as Blue John (surmisedcolour. Chinese Jade Carving by S. Howard Hansford,
to be a corruption of the French 'bleu-jaune' from the1950, illustrates fewer examples, but the information
prevalent colors of the stone), an unusually vividlyit contains is valuable.
marked variety of fluorspar mined in Derbyshire, andBoth these two types of stones were used for
made into vases and other ornaments from aboutdecorative works. They were used both in the East
1770. Some of the finer eighteenth-century examplesand the West. These stones, especially quartz were
have ormolu mounts, which were made by Matthewhighly valued and they still are highly valued for their
Boulton in Birmingham.precisions.
A transparent variety of quartz is rock crystal, which