David Fredericks
I grew up under an art-collecting mother, who was also a history professor at a Mid-Western University. At a very young age, as the only one of three sons who shared her passion for antiques, we travelled extensively throughout the mid-west in search of treasures, discovering many phenomenal items in old farmers' barns. When I was about seven or eight years old, I bought my first piece of jade, and have been fascinated with this mystical stone and its feel ever since then.
My main area of study has always been religion and its origins. Only by the collection and study of artefacts, can one truly discern what came before us, and the order in which each belief system developed. It coincides with the development of mankind from the hunter-gatherer to what is commonly termed "civilization". Thus, I study all the hard stones, pottery, bronze and iron artefacts I can collect, and am constantly trying to chase history and development back even further, filling in gaps, asking new questions, and dispelling some of the more common myths that have taken hold in some portions of accepted scientific knowledge.
In college, my majors were art (which I always loved), and micro-biology, which has led me toward the more scientific approach to authenticating artefacts. My fascination with the extent to which the finest replicators are constantly striving to improve on their own methods and skills, prompts me to steps of authentication that are rarely used in my field. I purposely spend between $10-15,000 each year, just to keep current with what they are doing. Only by using some more extreme methods of cleaning the objects down to their original surfaces, am I able to determine how both 'real' and 'replica' were created. Currently, I am curator and authenticator to six major collections here in the US.
Having a deep appreciation of the arts, and of nephrite jades in particular, has fuelled my passion that the art must not die, nor stagnate as it did for over 2,000 years. The artists who are currently working with this media are expanding the creative process, for the first time in millennia, using the most difficult material with which to work, continuing an art-form that was begun some 8,000 years ago. To me, it is imperative that the original "Stone of Heaven” continues to inspire and be valued for what it truly is -- a stone with the "feel" and properties of no other. Only by the promotion of the current creative artists' work, through every venue and resource available, can we all help re-introduce this peerless stone, and preserve this fine
art-form.
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Hours: 10 am - 6 pm daily.
Contact: David Fredericks, Gallery Owner. Curator & Authenticator to six major Estates.
2752 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson, AZ 85719 (520) 795-0061
Email for information about exclusive Jade Art Now exhibition HERE
