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Religious Uses: Pagan, Hebrew, and Christian: Mexico
The greater number of ancient Mexican jadeite beads appear to have been rounded pebbles of this material, assorted as to size and drilled for use in making necklaces. Other green stones used at this time in Mexico were green jasper, green plasma, serpentine and also the "Tecalco onyx" or "marble" above mentioned. In many cases these substances are of such rich green that they might easily be mistaken for jadeite by those who lacked the tests or the experience at the command of modern mineralogists. Should jadeite ever be found in situ in Mexico, it seems probable that the discovery will be made in the State of Oaxaca, whence came the finest ancient specimens, including the splendid votive adze. Moreover, one of the few materials by which jadeite can be worked is furnished by the streams of this region, whence have been taken several rolled pebbles which the writer has identified as yellow and blue corundum, the quality being equal to that of specimens from Ceylon. (Kunz, "Chalchiuitl: a note on the jadeite discussion," Science, vol. xii, No. 298.) Gesner describes one of the lip ornaments worn by the aborigines of South America in the following words: (Gesneri, "De figuris lapidum," Tiguri, 1565, fol. 107 verso, 108 recto.) A green stone or gem which the inhabitants of the West Indies use. They pierce their lips and insert this stone so that the thicker part adheres to the hole and the rest protrudes. We might call these ornaments oripenduli [mouth-pendants]. This stone was given me by a learned Piedmontese, Johannes Ferrerius, and he wrote of it as follows: "I send a cylindrical green stone, as long as a man's middle finger, and having at one extremity two ridges. It is stated that the Brazilians of high rank wore these, from their youth, in their pierced lips; one or more being worn according to the dignity of the wearer. While eating, or whenever they so wish for any other reason, these ornaments are removed from the lips."
Similar ornaments, made of a green quartz and of beryl, are in the Kunz collection in the Field Museum of Chicago.
The reason for these strange mutilations, which often cause serious discomfort to those who practice them, is not at all easy to determine. Some have conjectured that by the insertion of bright, colored objects in the ears, nose and lips, members of the same tribe were enabled to recognize each other at a distance; each tribe having selected a particular color. However, although certain local preferences are shown in the matter of color or material, there is no hard and fast rule in this matter, and frequently neighboring tribes will employ stones or shells of the same or similar hue and appearance. Others find in this custom a religious significance and suppose that the mutilation represents a form of sacrifice to the spirits, good or bad, who must be rendered favorable to man by some act on his part showing his unconditional submission to them. Originating in this way the idea of adornment was a secondary impulse. It is a fact that ancient peoples regarded the wearing of ear-rings as a badge of slavery, and, according to a Rabbinical legend, Eve's ears were pierced as a punishment for her disobedience, when she was driven from the Garden of Eden.
A curious theory was advanced by Knopf. ("De ornatu oris, nasi et aurium," Gottingae, 1832.) He calls attention to the habit children have of thrusting small bright objects into their noses and ears, and suggests that this indicates a natural propensity which, coupled with the early-developed love of adornment, induced primitive man to affix ornamental objects on or in the nose, ear, or mouth. There may be more in this than we are willing to admit, but on the whole it seems most probable that ceremonial and religious considerations gave rise to the custom.
One of the largest masses of sculptured Chinese jade is in the collection of T. B. Walker, Esq., of Minneapolis. This shows a jade mountain, with groups of figures artistically placed at its base, and winding pathways up to its summit. On the face of the rock is inscribed in beautiful Chinese characters the Epidendron Pavilion Essay of Wang Hi-che, a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy.
An enormous mass of New Zealand jade (punamu, "green stone") weighing 7000 pounds, found in South Island in 1902, is to be seen in the Museum of Natural History, New York; it was secured by the writer and was donated to the Museum by the late J. Pierpont Morgan. This is the largest mass of jade known, or of which we have any record. On it is placed a remarkable and, in its own peculiar way, an artistic decoration, serving as a type of old Maori life, and at the same time designating the geographic source of the jade in a striking and unmistakable manner calculated to appeal to the least intelligent visitor. This is a statue of a Maori warrior of the old days, executing a war dance, characteristics of which were a distortion of the features and a thrusting out of the tongue intended to express defiance and contempt of the enemy; the time or cadence of the dance was marked by slapping the thigh with the flat of the left hand. This figure was executed from life by Sigurd Neandross; indeed it was actually cast from the model, so that there can be no doubt as to its fidelity.