Secondly, in the Sung period the purpose of working in porcelain ware was to try to imitate the peculiar soft, translucent glow and color of jade, as well as its cool, smooth “feel.” The Chinese treasured jade in all its colors. But they wished to copy the white jade and that hue of the lighter off-green. In Ju ware it was achieved. If you could reach inside the case you would feel the third reason. Its “feel” is so smooth that it is the equal of jade. In all the world there are just some thirty known Ju-ware items, and twenty-three of them are here.

One of my richest collections is jade. I have saved it because it belongs to no one dynasty. Chinese respect for jade is the warp yarn of the long tapestry of our cultural history. I possess both the oldest and the largest jades in the world. I can show you among later jades a stalk of white-stemmed Chinese cabbage topped with green leaves and two green grasshoppers. This was all accomplished without paint or dye, but by using the skilled eye of its carver to recognize the possibilities of the run of color in the raw material.