A green stone carving 山炮绿

Recently acquired a rare piece of jade-like green stone carving from Qintian. The name of the stone is Sanbao Green (山炮绿). The whole carving weighs almost 40 kg. There were carvings of small buildings, pagoda, temple and trees on the rocky parts (non-green areas) of the green stone. This is how the artist used his skills to change the unattractive parts of the stone into somethings which look attractive and meaningfull. In doing so, he retained most parts of the features on the stone and turned it into a piece of art. The base is another qintian stone carvings of trees and buildings and a compound by the side. The oriental buildins in green and light red colours are very pleasing to the eyes. The theme of this carving is Capturing Jiangnam in Green.

This is how the stone artists work. They will spend 90% of the time looking at the stone and imagine what they can carve out from the stone. When inspirations finally arrived, they will spend the rest of the time (10%) to carve out the masterpiece. This involves blending the colour of the stone to the things the masters have in mind to carve out. At the end of the day, a masterpiece is produced, a combination of the colours, quality of stone with the skills and perfection of the artists. Some good masters will spend a few years to carve out his creations. No wonder some of these masterpieces are so expensive that only the super rich can afford to own them. Others are just not for sale, no matter what price you may offer. Sometimes the fees to engage a master to carve your own materials can be equally high. Some grandmasters charge a deposit of over a million dollars before he can even start work on your stone.

A green stone from Qintian

A stone master at work

A description of this stone

山炮绿 山炮位于汤乡，离乡驻地汤西南五点四公里，地处海拔八百米高山背。从汤乡到此经过三个山头，每个山头鼓起似泡，得名“山炮”，山民惯用“山泡”称之。此石色似翡翠，十分艳丽，又称翡翠青田。质细微冻。性坚而脆，肌理有许多白色麻点、黄色斑纹和硬砂块，多裂纹，纯净者难得。

绿青田，色为绿和墨绿，质细，晶莹，性脆。石中常隐黄、遏色似云状、梅桩状斑和黄、白色点。产山炮村，俗称山炮绿。露天开采，料多方大。质纯净、色泽鲜明、无杂质斑点者为佳品。