From the two ends of China:

- an unusual Boshan glass bead. I'm not sure of the date - either 1950s or earlier in the twentieth century, I guess. The bead is crackled internally, giving the impression of rock crystal, but the crackles don't extend to the surface, which is quite smooth. It's a very pretty effect which I haven't seen before.

the second "bead" is from one of the great early Neolithic jade-making cultures in China - the Liangzhu culture which flourished at the end of the third millennium BCE and the beginning of the second in the area around present-day Hangzhou. This is one of the mask-decorated pendants that are found in Liangzhu tombs. It is pierced vertically, for use as a pendant decoration probably with some ritual function.

Each of the great early jade-making cultures seems to have valued different qualities in jade. For instance, Hongshan peoples probably treasured green jades most of all, whereas the Qijia people from the northwest seem to have preferred jades with a high contrast between light and dark elements in the stone. In Liangzhu it was white opaque jade that was appreciated most. it was achieved by a deliberate burning process, but in such a controlled way that it didn't produce blackening of the stone.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Will