Turquoise in Tibet, Mongolia and China: What a 1915 Study Recorded
Outside the American Southwest and Persia, the other great turquoise culture was in the high country of Tibet and its neighbors. In 1915 the geologist Joseph E. Pogue collected what travelers and scholars had recorded about it. This article presents that record in his words, with page numbers. Where Pogue describes his own time, he means 1915.
Tibet's standard gem
Writing in 1915, Pogue reported:
“Turquois not only finds wide application in Tibet today, but it has been known to the inhabitants of that country since remote times.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 77 [1]
Pogue (1915) quoted Berthold Laufer:
“As jade is the recognized jewel of the Chinese, so turquois is the standard gem of the Tibetans.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 77 [1]
According to Pogue (1915, p. 77), most turquoise used in Tibet was of middling quality, greenish, and in larger pieces seamed and mottled with black matrix. [1]
Matched stones, headdresses and dowries
On Tibetan mosaic earrings, Pogue (1915) quoted Laufer:
“The requirement of these mosaics is that the stones shall be well matched in color, resulting in a harmonious color arrangement. With this end in view, Tibetan women gather turquoises during many years, till they have the desired colors in the required number of stones.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 78 [1]
On the Pirak headdress of Spiti, Pogue (1915) quoted the traveler Paske:
“Usually a Pirak forms part of the dowry given to the bride by her parents, and the value of the ornaments varies according to the means and position of the family.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 80 [1]
Turquoise as money
Pogue (1915, p. 81) reported that turquoise passed as currency in many parts of Tibet, and quoted Rockhill's advice that travelers from China should carry turquoise beads, which bought necessities better than money. [1]
Who made the jewelry
On who made the jewelry, Pogue wrote in 1915:
“The Nepalese, indeed, are noted as clever silversmiths, and much of the jewelry made in Tibet is made by Nepalese artisans.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 81 [1]
China came to turquoise late
Following Laufer, Pogue (1915, p. 82) wrote that the Chinese came to know turquoise no earlier than the Yuan (Mongol) period of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This is disputed; see the cross-reference to the Lowrys. [1]
Pogue (1915) quoted Marco Polo on a mountain in Caindu, in the west of today's Sichuan:
“wherein they find a kind of stone called turquois in great abundance and it is a very beautiful stone. These the Emperor does not allow to be extracted without his special order.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 83 [1]
The Peking trade in 1915
On Chinese turquoise, Pogue (1915) quoted Laufer:
“The native product ranges from green to blue in color, much of it is marked with black veins, and it is obtainable in comparatively large masses. It is regarded more as an ornamental material than a precious stone.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 83 [1]
As of 1915, Pogue reported:
“At present the turquois trade in China is practically confined to Peking and Si-ngan fu, where the rough stones are fashioned into beads, slabs, and carved ornaments of various sorts.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 83 [1]
Keep reading: the written history of turquoise · tracing the turquoise road · where turquoise comes from · Turquoise Mines of the Southwest
How this article is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every historical statement above is quoted from the printed work listed below, with page numbers, and we update it with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
From the Library: Branson on China and Tibet (1975)
1975 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1975, not today.
Writing in 1975, Branson described Chinese turquoise:
“Most of the material has a brown to very black veining or matrix resulting in an attractive large spider web.”
— Branson (1975), p. 55 [2]
Branson (1975) held that Chinese stone was easy to recognize:
“Chinese turquoise has a very characteristic color tone and together with the unusual matrix pattern, it can be easily identified.”
— Branson (1975), p. 55 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 55), small Chinese nuggets and fragments were cut into "finger bone" shapes, which he called characteristic of most Chinese nugget necklaces. [2]
On treatment, according to Branson (1975, p. 55), the cheaper Chinese nugget necklaces of his day were usually oiled. [2]
Of Tibet, Branson reported in 1975:
“Turquoise is the favorite gem stone of the people of Tibet.”
— Branson (1975), p. 56 [2]
He added, as of 1975 (Branson):
“Almost every person in Tibet possesses some turquoise.”
— Branson (1975), p. 56 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 56), Tibetan women's hats and head coverings were studded with turquoise, beads of it were sewn with coral as borders on clothing, and horses and other animals wore turquoise necklaces. [2]
On where the stone came from, Branson (1975) wrote:
“The author was told by the Tibetans that there is no turquoise mining in Tibet.”
— Branson (1975), p. 56 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 56), he was told the stone was all picked up from the surface because scarring or defacing the earth went against Tibetan beliefs. Judging by how much turquoise was worn in Tibet, he doubted this was possible unless extensive deposits were weathering out over a very large area, and he noted that Persian or Chinese stones were only occasionally mixed in. [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 57), turquoise was found in at least four places in Tibet, all great distances apart. The necklaces he pictured came from a refugee Lama who obtained them near his home in Durgeh (Derge), Kam Province, and other stones he showed were said to come from Amdo. [2]
Branson (1975) on the color range of Tibetan stone:
“The colors range from a deep sky blue through almost every possible shade of green and blue.”
— Branson (1975), p. 57 [2]
And on its matrix, Branson (1975) wrote:
“Many of the Tibetan stones have a spider web matrix of a design unequaled anywhere else.”
— Branson (1975), p. 57 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 57), the coral in Tibetan turquoise necklaces came from the Coral Sea, traded into Tibet by the Chinese; some of it was very old and highly valued, and a fine bead that broke was repaired with brass pins. [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 57), turquoise was also mounted in silver as beads, seven of which were usually strung together as a hair ornament. [2]
Branson (1975) made the same linguistic point Pogue had made about Tibet:
“The origin of the use of turquoise in Tibet is thought to be very early as the Tibetan word for it is original and not borrowed from another language, as it has been in most languages.”
— Branson (1975), p. 2 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 2), large quantities of Chinese turquoise were made into beads and traded into Mongolia, Tibet and other countries, and he noted that this trade was still going on in his day. [2]
On China, Branson (1975) wrote:
“The Chinese are greatly fascinated by turquoise, and to them it is second only to jade.”
— Branson (1975), p. 2 [2]
According to Branson (1975, p. 57), a turquoise-encrusted box of silver and gilt was used to carry prayers written on cloth or rice paper, and was usually worn around the neck as a pendant. [2]
Field Notes by Mateo James
I notice the two books disagree on whether Tibet had turquoise mines. Pogue, following Laufer in 1915, listed Tibetan localities including a mine in the Gangs-chan mountains of western Tibet, while Branson was told in 1975 that there was no mining at all, only surface collecting, and doubted it himself. Both name Derge in eastern Tibet as a source. Chambless & Ryan don't cover Tibet, so both accounts stay on the page.
Sources
- Pogue, Joseph E. The Turquois: A Study of Its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, Mythology, Folklore, and Technology. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. XII, Part II, Third Memoir. Washington, 1915. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Anything present-tense in this book is 1915-present.
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975. Cited by printed page. Anything present-tense in this book is 1975-present.