Drill for carving jade

China

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 222

These steel drills with blunt points (zhuangding or dingzi 
in Chinese), flat heads (tuozi), or curving heads (wazi) are used for high relief carving, undercutting, and fine shaping of small jade works. The craftsman holds the jade in one hand against the drill, which is mounted on a spinning shaft. He or she rotates the shaft using foot treadles, while continuously applying abrasives, usually sand mixed with water, to the tip of the drill, which cuts the jade.

Drill for carving jade, Steel, China

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.