Shanghai-style Jade Carving

Shanghai-style jade carving took shape in modern Shanghai, drawing on the strengths of both northern and southern carving and absorbing the city's aesthetic into a distinct style. It entered the third national ICH list in 2011 as "jade carving (Shanghai-style)" (item VII-57).

Wide-ranging in subject and shaped to suit each stone, Shanghai-style carving excels at censers and vases, figures, birds, flowers and animals, prizing ingenious form, fine workmanship and an all-embracing spirit.

A major branch of Shanghai craftsmanship, it embodies the city's modern handicraft tradition of synthesis, innovation and openness.

The craft is carried on by Shanghai's arts-and-crafts institutions and time-honoured gold, silver and jade houses, standing among the city's signature craft traditions.