So it was good fortune indeed to be invited to take a brief course in jade identification, given by the gracious Roxanne Tu, Senior Gemologist at Taipei's Museum of Jade Art.

BBC: How to buy jade in Asia

An 18th Century jade bowl and a Dehua porcelain figurine were stolen during the raid at Durham University's Oriental Museum in April.

BBC: Durham Oriental Museum artefact theft: a 'complete farce'