Jade. Eastern Zhou period, 6th century BC
虎形玉佩 - æ±å‘¨, 公元å‰6世紀
長 17 厘米; 高 7,5 厘米
This rather thick plaque, or pendant, is shaped like a crouching tiger in profile whose slightly bent and arched body terminates in a short tail. The conical holes, one drilled in the tail and the other in the mouth, act as suspension holes. The main features of the animal are rendered on both sides of the jade plaque through double incised lines, used to mark the contour and details of the tiger’s head and tail, and highlight the limbs of the feline. A stylized bird in profile is also carved on the central portion of the body between the front and rear legs. The contour of the plaque is shaped so as to stress some details of the animal, such as the snout and lower jaw in the head and the paws. The dark brown colour of the jade is determined by the extensive iron inclusions: however, the head area of the plaque, where the colour of the stone is light green, retains some translucency.
Plaques carved in the shape of tigers were quite popular in the Eastern Zhou period from the 8th to the 6th century BC, before they were eventually replaced by dragon-shaped pendants, such as the pair illustrated in the following lot. The present example can be compared to a pair of tiger-shaped plaques excavated in 1978, in tomb no.1 of the Chu cemetery at Henan Xichuan Xiasi nd reproduced in Yang Boda Zhongguo meishu quanji: yuqi (Chinese works of art series: jade) vol.9, Beijing 1986, pl. 106. The Xiasi plaques have the same outline, though the details on the body of the tigers differ from the present example: the central part of the body, for example, is decorated with a pattern recalling tiger stripes, while the rear limbs of the animal take the shape of two stylized dragon heads. For the evolution of this type of plaque during the Eastern Zhou period, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, Chicago 2002, pp.260-262.
HEIGHT 7,5 CM, LENGTH 17 CM
From an Austrian private collection