Carving process
Introduction:
The Maori people have been carving jade for hundreds of years. So much so, that it has become an important part of Maori culture. Due to the stone’s hardness and difficulty to obtain, it became one of the most prized materials and possesses much sentimental and spiritual value right down to our day.
The Maori refer to Nephrite Jade as POUNAMU which, when translated, means GREEN STONE.
Nephrite Jade is not to be confused with Jadeite. Jadeite is often called CHINESE JADE. Therefore GREENSTONE is a form of jade (NEPHRITE), though not the same as CHINESE JADE (JADEITE)
Traditionally, the Maori worked the jade with SANDSTONE which contains fine particles of QUARTZ which is 7 on the hardness scale.
Today, we have the welcome assistance of DIAMOND TOOLS and high speed machinery. These allow us to carve more intricate designs and gives us the various stages we go through in order to cut, carve and polish Nephrite Jade, along with an idea of the estimated amount of time it takes to start and complete one piece.
Click on each picture to view each stage in detail:
Stage 2 - Checking and designing
Stage 3 - Cutting out the basic shape
Stage 4 - Grinding and rounding off
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Stage 1 |
Stage 2 |
Stage 3 |
Stage 4 |
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Stage 5 |
Stage 6 |
Stage 7 |
Stage 8 |
