04-03-2015, 05:05 PM
Robert,
I'm not saying anything informative to the seller. He might increase his prices, although he certainly knows I'm buying certain shapes of "amulets." This person is selling a lot o stuff, most of it claimed to be "original." Part of his wares are new jadeite, or old snuff boxes and vases. It looks like he sells jade by weight. Yesterday I found these sweeties added to his store. Each was listed as, "Old Jade Hand Carved Dragon Statue Decoration Ancient Officials." ???? :woot: :errr: :unsure:
[attachment=12154]DSC03118_zpsbq8ymic6.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=12155]DSC03238_zpsfefvcwtm.jpg[/attachment]
Both pieces are large and belong to a scabbard for a 100cm-plus two-handed iron sword, popular during the Han Dynasty. These are 100-300 years newer than the little Zhou fittings I first posted. The sword's pommel and hand-guard will probably not show up. Ancient fittings become encased with rusted iron and not removable from the tang and blade. These examples have been in iron-rich soil, consequently very dark. Both were carved in a "mother and baby hydra" motif by an accomplished craftsman, more ornate than the best "Sarmatian" ones found in Ukraine, the same age, and also better than most museum pieces.
Honesty, Robert, I don't know what to think. It just gets weirder and weirder. :errr: Nobody can possibly afford to carve repro artifacts in this intricate high-relief style and then sell it $89 and $99, the actual price of each piece... plus free shipping! Even the pure white fakes carved in the late Quing Dynasty are selling for BIG thousands.
I'm not saying anything informative to the seller. He might increase his prices, although he certainly knows I'm buying certain shapes of "amulets." This person is selling a lot o stuff, most of it claimed to be "original." Part of his wares are new jadeite, or old snuff boxes and vases. It looks like he sells jade by weight. Yesterday I found these sweeties added to his store. Each was listed as, "Old Jade Hand Carved Dragon Statue Decoration Ancient Officials." ???? :woot: :errr: :unsure:
[attachment=12154]DSC03118_zpsbq8ymic6.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=12155]DSC03238_zpsfefvcwtm.jpg[/attachment]
Both pieces are large and belong to a scabbard for a 100cm-plus two-handed iron sword, popular during the Han Dynasty. These are 100-300 years newer than the little Zhou fittings I first posted. The sword's pommel and hand-guard will probably not show up. Ancient fittings become encased with rusted iron and not removable from the tang and blade. These examples have been in iron-rich soil, consequently very dark. Both were carved in a "mother and baby hydra" motif by an accomplished craftsman, more ornate than the best "Sarmatian" ones found in Ukraine, the same age, and also better than most museum pieces.
Honesty, Robert, I don't know what to think. It just gets weirder and weirder. :errr: Nobody can possibly afford to carve repro artifacts in this intricate high-relief style and then sell it $89 and $99, the actual price of each piece... plus free shipping! Even the pure white fakes carved in the late Quing Dynasty are selling for BIG thousands.
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
