Some people say this shovel-shaped device is a palette. But I personally prefer it to be a shovel for taking spices or medicinal materials. Because the bottom of the shovel is slightly curved, it will shake back and forth when placed on a flat surface.
The jade shovel is made of green jade. There is a rusty color deep into the texture. There are flocculent white impurities and black banded spots inside. There are traces of erosion and wear on the surface. The unworn part has a patina and a glassy luster, which should be a frequently used object.
The jade shovel has rounded corners and is wedge-shaped overall. There are brushed marks on the outside of the edge, and bamboo-like patterns are decorated on the front of both sides of the edge.
On the front, there is a relief bird lying on the shovel surface. The jade bird has a wide beak, teardrop eyes, a high forehead, a crown on its head, and a pair of ear-shaped feathers on both sides, which is a unique shape of jade birds in the Han Dynasty.
The wings of the jade bird are folded, and the long tail, wings, and body are all carved with fine lines to depict feathers side by side. It fully demonstrates the exquisite hair-thread carving technology of the Han Dynasty. There are sediments inside the fine lines, and I have cleaned them many times, but these sediments should be accumulated over the years of use, and it is difficult to completely remove them.
Several elegant phoenix tail-shaped feathers are carved in deep intaglio along the edge of the bottom of the shovel. They are irregularly distributed, and it is speculated that they are the ingenuity of the jade craftsman to cover up the flaws of the jade. This shows that the ancients cherished jade.
Size: Length 121mm Width 86.5mm Thickness 21mm
Weight: 343g
