corundum, Laos.12, gems

gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, India, Tamil Nadu

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary

Featherworks were among the most highly prized objects in the early post-Conquest period. Hernan Cortes sent feathered objects to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to dazzle him with their richness and unique qualities. Others, like Diego de Soto, carried packages of featherworks from New Spain to Spain to give to Charles V soon after the Spanish Conquest. Many featherworks found their way into cabinets of curiosities throughout Europe, no doubt collected because they symbolized the exotic “New World” across the Atlantic. Still today, feathered goods like the so-called Headdress of Moctezuma are some of the most prized possessions of European museums.

gems, ancient gemology, history of gemology, history of mineralogy, Middle Ages, Aristotle, Greek, Greek science

The object of this research is to investigate the mediaeval reception in French of Aristotle’s Meteorologica. Through a comparative examination of French and Latin translators ‘practices in the 13th and 14th centuries, a preliminary analysis of the difficulties of the translation from Aristotle is carried out, bringing to light the mediaeval definition of an Aristotelian text. A lexis of meteorology gradually forms up and the semantic field of air exemplifies the alterations in the language induced by those translations. The scholastic reading of Meteorologica reveals a multifarious questioning, while meteorology seems a merely marginal concern. Rational reflection on hydrometeors and wind however takes shape, involving original developments, and indue course, the observation of the real as well. On the contrary, the French Encyclopaedia, in constructing a synthesis of all cultures, apparently does not popularize the newest advances of knowledge. In fact, as an echo of the disputes of scholastics, it requires several levels of reading. French meteorology thus appears as the outcome of a cultural encounter rather than the reflection of popular lore. It evidences how difficult it was for Aristotelian theories to be assimilated, on account of epistemological obstacles and of a still present underlying symbolism. Nevertheless, thanks to Aristotle, a French discourse on meteorology was building up.

gems, jade, pyroxene jade, jadeite, fei cui, omphacite, kosmochlor

An introduction to the appreciation, identification, and valuation of fei cui. Topics include flaws, artificial treatments and their detection, methods of assessing value, and examples of exceptional material. The book combines gemological examination with the practical concerns of collectors and buyers.

UV, gems

An overview of the application of ultraviolet radiation in gemology, introducing its use as a tool for examining gemstones.

gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka

Presents 57 papers from the tenth International Conference of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, Musee National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Paris, France, 3–7 July 1989. The text comprises 36 papers on archaeology (early lithic cultures; Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa; settlements and objects of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures; pottery, environmental evidence) and 21 papers on art history (sculpture; paintings; terracottas; coins from the 1st to the 17th centuries AD).

gems, fake gems from the 18th century, gemology, gem testing

In this book, scholars from a variety of disciplines provide new evidence about some of the most significant forgers and forgeries. The reception of fakes is considered, as is their importance as evidence for the history of taste and the art market.

jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, Burma, nomenclature, gems

The paper discusses the definition of jade virtue" in Chinese civilization and the distinction between jade and fei cui (jadeite), explores the gemological definitions and the Chinese-English nomenclature of nephrite (soft jade) and jadeite (hard jade), and further examines and identifies newly discovered varieties of jade and fei cui. Finally, it proposes a precise definition and systematic classification of jade."

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology

The study of the minor Olmec schulpture is the fundamental basis of this book. To call it minor is a conotation of size and physical measure in terms of centimeters. The material used were jade, serpentine, clay, granite, basalt and wood. There is a special mention of the jade cult, because it established the zenith of the Olmec art. In the history of jade carving, nobody achieved nor even came close to compare with the magnificent realizations of the Olmec lapidaries and ther patrons, the Jade Lords. The Olmec Civilization was the creator of the most beautiful and impressive sculptural art works of all the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian art. It has been always an enigma: the sudden appearance of this magnificent art within a primitive environment, without the existence of any previous development stages. Now for the first time are exhibited here the achievements of long years of investigation around the Olmec problem. It has been possible to find enough evidence of the physical presence in America, 2,000 years ago, of transoceanic immigrants from the Old World, and also the cultural seeding they brought to the young Mesoamerica in those historical happenings, that influenced the cultural expressions of all the Mesoamerican Civilizations since the first one, the Olmec, until the two last, the Maya and the Aztec. The achieved facts permit also to make a definitive correction of many wrong statements about the Olmec occurred since the first explorations of Mathew Stirling until the works of Michael D. Coe, the two most outstanding American archaeologists. There are here published many new findings about the Olmec, being the most remarkable their original long distance communications system by the use of solar rays reflected in their marvelous hematite mirrors, a cultural feat that was the first step towards the Maya numerals and hieroglyphics. An English translation of: Los señores de jade (1991).