Is This Stone Carving Nephrite Jade ?

[Cariboo5]

The location of this carved stone is China. The estate sale was from a gentleman that was in Asia in the 1970's. The stone has a decent weight for its size, polished area has a shiny waxy lustre and under black light the creamy-white mineral inside the darker lines shows up purple. This was available in China and my research shows the Nephrite jade is a variety of the calcium, magnesium, and iron-rich amphibole minerals tremolite or actinolite.

Colors range from translucent to opaque and often mottled. Light to dark green, yellow to brown, white, gray, black.
Although I am not 100% certain all roads for me are leaning towards Nephrite Jade. All thoughts and comments welcome. Thanks to all ......

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Cry Of The Eagle: History And Legends Of The Cherokee Indians And Their Buried Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[blauer]

I'm gonna say yes. With the waxy luster it looks just like modern nephrite carvings I own.

 

[Cariboo5]

I'm gonna say yes. With the waxy luster it looks just like modern nephrite carvings I own.

Appreciate your input blauer. The big auction companies such as Christies deal with and handle Chinese/Asian
items and certainly would know. I am going to send them pictures and inquiry and hopefully get a reply as the worst that can happen is nothing...
Thanks again & have a good one .......

 

[Yang Hao]

I think this could be Shoushan stone. 寿山石 壽山石.

Here is the wiki in english about it:

Shoushan stone carvings - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Here is an example of similar to your images that was up for auction in 2020.

壽山石雕老人頭像－【Deal Price Picture】

However, the mask in your images looks to be a lighter than one in the second link. So I can't be for certain.

 

[Cariboo5]

Thanks so much for your input Yang Hao. Following up on your thoughts this certainly could be Shoushan Stone as it does come in a variety of colors and Shoushan stone is, for collectors, one of the most coveted of all stones.
The example in the auction is similar with the shape & size. The artist signature is different and as you pointed out mine is much lighter in color with it being more of a creamy-white with light green high lights. ( Picture attached that shows as close to true color) I am told the artist signature on mine is " Xisheng". I have researched this name and cannot find anything. I did send some pictures to Christies Auction and it will be 3-4 weeks before I get a reply so it will be interesting to see what they say about the carving such as type of stone, date and location of where it was done.

Thanks again appreciate your thoughts.......

 

[crashbandicoot]

I don,t know Nephrite from daylight but that is one cool carving! I,d love to have that hanging on my wall!

 

[Yang Hao]

A little more I can say about your find. 希 xi means hope in Chinese (also means rare or uncommon). As for a date the character 希 has been used since China's bronze age which unfortunately does not narrow down a date. Please post any new info you find about this carving.

 

[Cariboo5]

A little more I can say about your find. 希 xi means hope in Chinese (also means rare or uncommon). As for a date the character 希 has been used since China's bronze age which unfortunately does not narrow down a date. Please post any new info you find about this carving.

At this point all I have gotten is that the signature is " Xisheng " and rare. After a lot of research I cannot find any information on Xisheng so I am uncertain as to what the name refers to. You also mentioned rare so now I understand that is what the character says. Thanks for your follow up as it is appreciated and I will post any new updates regarding this as I get them...