There is a mountain of jade in Zacapa, Guatemala. It wasn’t gold or silver Mayan and Aztec people revered, it was jade they called ‘Chalchihuis.’ Jade was considered holy by indigenous people of the Americas. Intricate masks of worked jade have been found in ancient Mayan burial sites. Ornaments of jade were used to adorn royalty.
Jade is a mineral that falls into two categories: Jadeite or Nephrite. Jadeite is sodium aluminum silicate and is found in white to very dark green deposits. Nephrite is an amphibole of hydrous silicate that contains calcium, iron, sodium, aluminum and magnesium. The word jade comes from the Spanish ‘ijada’ that can be literally translated as ‘pain in the side.’ While the Spaniards of conquest, after Hernan Cortes’ initial assault on the Aztecs of Mexico in 1519, were attracted to jade, their primal quest was gold, silver and emeralds.
Today Antigua, a city in the mountains, about 65 kilometers southwest of the capital of Guatemala City, is home to jade factories and stores that specialize in jade jewelry. The Casa del Jade, near Antigua’s Central Square, uses highly skilled artisans to create modern replicas of Mayan jade masks and fine jewelry set in gold with diamonds.
“It takes us 7 days to make this jade mask,” Pascual dePaz said. He and Gustavo Ramirez were working on small pieces of dark green jade that were to be fitted to a wood frame carved to the dimensions and proportions of original burial masks.
“This one will require 103 individual pieces of jade,” dePaz said. He held up a finished piece used as a model next to the carved wooden frame being fitted with jadeite pieces. Each mask requires selection from stones found in the jade mine at Zacapa, careful cutting of the stone, then selection of pieces that are eventually cut to size, ground and polished.
“I have been working here for 23 years. My first 5 years, I worked in the jade factory,” Fredy Gomez said. “Black jade is the hardest. We use diamonds to cut it. Black jade only comes from Zacapa and from Burma in Asia,” he explained. Black jade weapons were used by Mayan warriors and hunters because of its hardness.
“We found emerald green jade from masks, necklaces, earrings and dental inlays. We believe the Mayan craftsmen used black jade to cut green jade,” Gomez explained.
“Imperial jade looks like emeralds. The green color for the Mayan was symbolic of life, power and eternal love. Jade was used in funerary masks also for ceremonies and during coronations of kings,” he added.
Artisan Pascual dePaz fitted hand cut and polished pieces of green jade to the wooden form that was a copy of the King Pacal mask. The mosaic mask was discovered in the burial pyramid of King Pacal, or ‘Hand Shield,’ covering his face. King Pacal lived during the Maya classical era and died on August 31, 683 AD. He lived to see the completion of his burial pyramid and ruled as king over Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. When the king’s tomb under the Temple of Inscriptions was opened the mask covering his face along with many jade pieces, mother-of-pearl and ceramic objects were discovered.
Another museum quality replica being worked on by Gustavo Ramirez and Pascual dePaz in the jade factory was the Tikal #160 Mask. When the burial mask was discovered in Tomb #160 it was broken in 174 pieces. The Tikal #160 mask dates from the early classical Maya era of 527 AD. Restoration of the original mask was made from stelae inscriptions. Clearly a nobleman’s death mask, it was composed of serpentine for the face, jasper ears and lips with shell and obsidian eyes using jade for the ear flares.
“The Spanish came looking for gold. For the Mayans jade was more important. The Spaniards took the gold not the jade. The mountain of jade was located in 1950, so it has just been 62 years since we rediscovered the Mayan jade mines. The founder of Casa del Jade was one of two people that started the jade industry in Guatemala,” Gomez said.
“We only discovered orange jade 6 years ago in a vein inside white jade. Thirteen years ago we discovered lavender jade. Hurricane Mitch brought down parts of the mountain and we found the lavender. We have three rare varieties of jade here: lavender, baby blue which was discovered in a vein inside lavender and orange which was found inside the white. These three can only be found in Guatemala. All have been examined by the Gemological Institute of America and certified as jade,” Gomez explained.
Outside the jade factory were large rocks. One contained a vein of Imperial Jade. The deep green color apparent in the boulder. Spraying water on the stone brought out the contrast and deep green color of the vein.
“These jade rocks come from the river and the mountain. You have to cut this rock to get to the vein. It is always a surprise, where the vein runs,” Gomez said.
Other jade rocks contained black jade. Some showed mica that glinted like silver in the sunlight. “We use 20 to 30%. The rest are impurities like mica, carbon crystals and fractures,” the jade expert explained.
“We have to cut the rock with a 36 inch diamond blade that turns at 1,700 rotations per minute. We can only cut 4 ½ inches in an hour. We then choose only the best part of the jade,” Gomez added. Diamond drills must be used to make holes in jade.
To give an idea of the value placed on finished jade jewelry, an Imperial Jade ring with a beautifully polished stone set with diamonds had a price tag of $6,500. A small orange jade ring was $2,900. A bracelet with cabochon cut jade of various colors costs $2,600.
“A month ago I sold a bracelet with 17 cabochons, 6 x 4 millimeters, set in gold with diamonds for $13,600,” Gomez said. A lavender jade bead necklace costs $4,845. The Casa del Jade has their own staff of designers, jewelers and artists.
To make round beads, like those used in the lavender jade necklace, the best part of the stone must be chosen. Then it is cut into a cube. Factory workers make the cube round with their fingers. The smallest bead is hardest to make and is about 4 millimeters. It takes on average 2 hours to make a round bead of jade. Once cut into a cube the finished Imperial Jade piece, used for the ring, took 4 hours to shape round.
Jade colors vary from black to white. There are shades called apple green, typical green, moon jade, orange, imperial, lavender, baby blue and light green. Single sculpted pieces of jade, like those used in the bracelet, sell for $600.
These precious stones, taken from Guatemala’s Motagua Valley, were part of the religious and ceremonial life of people that lived long ago. Maya, Mokaya, Olmec and Aztec civilizations flourished long before Spanish conquest. For these indigenous Mesoamericans jade symbolized life and eternal love. Talented artisans continue the tradition, working jade in Antigua, to satisfy today’s passion for the jewel of history to adorn and celebrate love and adulation.