Stone of the Gods: Jade Museum Tells Tales of Ancient Culture
Written: Dec 18 '01
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Pros: Fascinating glimpse of 2,000 year old civilizations as seen by the bright green stones
Cons: Difficult to find if you don't know where it is
The Bottom Line: Sure the Museum of Jade is a little small, but it is an outstanding view of ancient Central American history centered on the mystical properties of jade.
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| mrkstvns's Full Review: San José |
The Museum of Jade? Why the heck would I want to go to the Museum of Jade? How interesting could jade be? It's just that green stone used to make cheap jewelry, right? Wrong.
Jade is a stone with a fascinating history and even more fascinating properties. Emperors regarded it as more valuable than gold. Archaelogists covet it and study it. Curators the world over horde it as some of the mankind's oldest and most enduring works of art. And you can see it and learn about it at the Museum of Jade in downtown San Jose.
Jade is just part of the reason to visit the museum. The place also houses many historical and cultural displays depicting the long and varied history of pre-hispanic rule. There are art works, tools, and musical instruments from several indigenous civilizations that occuppied Costa Rica long before the first Europeans set foot in the region. There are lots of metates -- the long arc-shaped stones used for crushing corn, several and there is an entire gallery devoted to various and sundry sexually oriented Mayan sculptures, most of whom make John Holmes seem about as endowed as a eunuch. (Sorry ladies, no fondling the art objects and no flash photography, please!)
Most of the jade objects were obtained from various private collections, not from official archaelogical digs. Many of the collectors admitted to having purchased the objects from looters and various Indiana Jones type characters in the early part of the 20th century. Most of the objects are thought to have been done by craftsmen from the Olmec civilizations, most of whom lived along the Pacific coast between central Mexico and Guatemala about 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. There are no known Olmec sites in Costa Rica, which has always baffled archaelogists because ancient jade objects were found throughout the region. It is thought that Olmec traders had shipping routes that extended far beyond the borders of their cities to the north. The craftsmanship and styles of these objects are remarkably similar to Chinese jade objects produced during the Han dynasty, which was also about 2,000 years ago. The story behind jade in China versus jade in Central America is fascinating, and in some ways, unsettling.
Story of Jade
There are really two very distinct rocks that jewelers and historians call "jade". Both are very similar in appearance and physical properties. The ancient Chinese mined the rock called nephrite, which is geologically and chemically known as silicate of calcium and magnesium, while the ancient Olmecs in Central America were mining jadeite, which is scientifically described as silicate of sodium and aluminum. Both are harder and stronger than steel and both can be found in a range of colors, ranging from almost white to black. Of course we always think of green as being the color of jade, even though if you visit a museum of Asian art, you'll see that most of the jade pieces from China are closer to white.
While the ancient Chinese used jade from a single source, the Central Americans mined jade in many different places, and some of the stones were not really jade at all, but other hard rocks with similar green coloring. Some jade objects in archaelogical museums aren't really "jade" at all! No matter though, since it isn't really the substance that makes the objects important, it is their historical background. If you found a genuine Olmec object carved of quartz, it could be just as significant and valuable as one of a more "pure" rock -- at least to most museum curators and archaelogists.
The long heritage of fine jade work was lost to the Mayas, just as it degraded over time in China. Today, Chinese stone carvers rarely work with genuine nephrite, instead, they prefer jadeite, often of questionable quality. Similarly, it is easy to find cheap jade jewelry and souvenirs almost anywhere today, though they lack the fine attention to detail, the historical significance, and the better quality control that marked jade objects of antiquity. The bright green jades found today are usually poor quality jadeite, if they are jadeite at all...
Cultural Significance of Jade
It's kind of funny how time and place affect human values. I don't think of jade as being especially important or valuable, yet ancient Chinese regarded it as being the most valuable thing on earth -- a substance that could embody the very essence and power of Gods. Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan kings in Central America had a similar view of the hard green stone. It was revered beyond all other earthly objects and a man who had jade was far richer and more powerful than one who had mere gold stockpiles.
Jade was used for various purposes in Central American pre-hispanic civilizations. It was used as badges of position, it was used for religious objects, and it was used in many objects that nobles would have in their homes and temples. When you visit the Museum of Jade, you can see many of these objects, which are fascinating in their fine detail. Surprisingly, these objects are so durable that many look brand new! There are small statues of gods that bear incredible detail -- tiny, thinly etched lines. The craftsmanship and beauty of these objects is truly amazing!
I've seen a lot of Chinese jade in American museums, but I don't recall seeing many objects from Central American civilizations. I wonder why. They are just as old, just as beautiful, and in some ways even more significant than the Chinese objects because Central American history is not as well documented as is Chinese -- there is more to learn about Olmecs and Mayas than about the Han dynasty, it seems to me.
Visiting the Museum:
The Museum of Jade is located in downtown San Jose inside the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) building on Avenida 7 at Calle 11 -- across the street from Parque Espana. The museum is on the 11th floor. Admission is 500 colones -- about $1.75.
INS has the world's most bizarre elevator. Instead of pressing a button to go up, you punch in the floor number you want and the display tells you which elevator to use. Don't just get in the first elevator going up because it probably won't stop at the floor you want (doing it wrong is a great opportunity to meet friendly Ticos going to other floors, as I discovered).
A Slice of Mankind's History
I doubt that I would ever have thought much about the importance of jade if it weren't for spending one morning at the Museo de Jade in downtown San Jose. You can bet I'll be paying a little more attention to the jade objects in art museums everywhere now that I know a little bit more about the stone and its mystical and regal properties. If you're passing through San Jose, I recommend spending a couple hours at this small but utterly fascinating museum.
Until next time, see you in the museum. I'll be the guy who actually reads the little plaques next to the displays! (And while I'm at it, I'd like to wish everyone here on epinions a happy and safe holiday season -- feliz navidad y prospero aņo y felicidad!)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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