Paperweight
Unknown Artist
Medium
Nephrite, light spinach-green with black inclusions, and a light gray caused by calcination
Dimensions
H. 6 5/8 in. (16.9 cm); W. 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm); D. 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Classification
Jade
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902
Accession Number
02.18.714
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant nephrite jade paperweight shaped as a cluster of gourds,ails from China's Qing dynasty during the Qianlong period (173–95), a golden age of imperial artistry. Carved from light spinach-green stone veined with black inclusions andented by light gray areas from calcination—a deliberate heating process that enhances color and texture—the piece stands 6⅝ inches tall. Its slender form (2 inches wide, 1⅜ inches deep) made it a perfect functional object for a scholar's desk, blending with refined beauty. In Chinese culture, jade has long symbolized purity, immortality, and moral virtue,...