GUEST: I believe them to be jade. They were both purchased at Housing Works thrift shops right here in the city. And I bought them over ten years ago individually from two separate events that they had. And I believe them to be jade. I don't know.
APPRAISER: Okay, and which one do you think is the oldest of the two?
GUEST: I'm going to say the belt.
APPRAISER: Do you happen to know the purpose of the other object?
GUEST: I believe it to be a compact.
APPRAISER: Well, let's start with the belt. It is likely to be a slightly softer material than jade. It's likely to be a serpentine or a soapstone. Jade you usually cannot incise with a blade, so if you took a small penknife to the belt, I think it's likely that you would be able to incise a small groove or rut. These little stylized Qianlong dragons on each of the plaques is typical of a Ming or earlier belt. However, I think this is a likely reproduction. Not necessarily executed to deceive, but just a nice decorative object. And what did you pay for the belt?
GUEST: $200.
APPRAISER: $200, okay.
GUEST: And then we move on to what you refer to as a compact.
APPRAISER: What did you pay for that?
GUEST: I believe it was either $50 or $55.
APPRAISER: Okay. It's a wonderful hue of white jade. There are no inclusions. It is as near to pure white jade as one may find. Now, the carving is quite interesting. This is a Fu bat. This is a lovely beaded scrollwork edge. These are Shou medallions. So Shou and Fu bats are classically Chinese auspicious symbols. And then we have scrolled dragon heads at the top here, and this is a small little hinge that alternates the top from the base. Now, when I take it off, we can see that there's a mirror insert, and I can see why you would think it's a compact. However, the mirror was never intended for the object.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: The object is a hinged white jade belt fitting.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Probably Qianlong period, so about 1760, 1780. What happened to the vast majority of interesting hard stones that came into America in the early 20th century is that they were repurposed. The functionality of an 18th century belt fitting to the Americans in the 1920s or the Australians or the English is almost zero. What one would do is put a mirror in it and sell it as a compact, and then it's a piece of Chinoiserie or Japonisme. It's an interesting object.
GUEST: I understand.
APPRAISER: Edward Farmer in New York is probably the most famous for doing this. Usually, modification to an 18th century piece or a dynastic Chinese work of art is a bad thing. It almost always influences the price in a negative way. However, in this instance, it does not influence the price.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Beautifully hinged, beautiful edge, the jade is superior quality, frankly. So you paid $55 for this and $200 for this.
GUEST: Correct.
APPRAISER: Let me start by saying this is probably worth what you paid for it or less.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Now, the white jade hinged belt fitting would carry a very conservative auction estimate of around $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST: Wow. Wow. I'm impressed. I bought it because it's beautiful.
