Period:Han dynasty Production date:4thC BC- 1stC BC
Materials:jade, cinnabar (traces),
Technique:incised, pierced, carved,
Subjects:wild cat/big cat (tiger)
Dimensions:Height: 4.30 centimetres Length: 8.50 centimetres
Description:
Tiger silhouette of dark green opaque jade with earth encrustation and traces of cinnabar.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure BM-2022-3034.177-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Han dynasty/Jades/264_.jpg)
Comments:This Ordos tiger in profile is pierced and carved depicting a pointed ear, round eye, snout and open jaws exposing fangs with a muscular jaw. The feet are incised to represent padded paws together with a long tail. See Rawson 1995, p.312, cat.no.23.2. This animal is carved from a smooth dense stone, very similar to that used for 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3]. In this instance there is no frame and the plaque is defined by the silhouette of the animal. It faces stiffly forward, its large head, with open jaw displaying teeth, bent towards the ground. Its back is slightly undulating and its tail s-shaped. The legs are straight and stiff, with bulges indicating the thigh muscles. A round hole for the eye and a triangle for the ear are, like the jaw, edged with a narrow ridge. A similar ridge encloses the half-moon holes on the body. These openings are similar the pear-drop lozenges on 263, references to enclosures that held inlay on the gold originals and inspired both the bronzes and stone copies. The underside is completely flat and worked smooth. As with the previous plaque nothing identical has been excavated scientifically. More evidence therefore as to their date and provenance, is therefore, awaited. Plaques, though in the shapes of animals, in particular of tigers, are common in the peripheral areas of China. Such creatures can be compared with animal ornament from much further west. Indeed these tigers from the steppe area resemble the creatures on the gold bands said to come from Ziwiyeh in Kurdistan. This tiger motif was to penetrate deep in China, and make a powerful impact. Bronze versions of such tigers have been found at Hebei Tang xian. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REPORT: BM, 9th January 1995: 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] and 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] “were examined using air path X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Both contained silicon, calcium, and iron in major amounts, in proportions consistent with those in the mineral nephrite. Traces of manganese and zinc, not unusual in nephrite, were also detected. Although the qualitative chemical data is consistent with the suggestion that the objects are made of nephrite, positive identification would best be made by X-ray diffraction analysis, requiring removal of an almost indiscernible amount of material. Permission to do this was not received from the owner.”
Materials:jade, cinnabar (traces),
Technique:incised, pierced, carved,
Subjects:wild cat/big cat (tiger)
Dimensions:Height: 4.30 centimetres Length: 8.50 centimetres
Description:
Tiger silhouette of dark green opaque jade with earth encrustation and traces of cinnabar.
IMG
Comments:This Ordos tiger in profile is pierced and carved depicting a pointed ear, round eye, snout and open jaws exposing fangs with a muscular jaw. The feet are incised to represent padded paws together with a long tail. See Rawson 1995, p.312, cat.no.23.2. This animal is carved from a smooth dense stone, very similar to that used for 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3]. In this instance there is no frame and the plaque is defined by the silhouette of the animal. It faces stiffly forward, its large head, with open jaw displaying teeth, bent towards the ground. Its back is slightly undulating and its tail s-shaped. The legs are straight and stiff, with bulges indicating the thigh muscles. A round hole for the eye and a triangle for the ear are, like the jaw, edged with a narrow ridge. A similar ridge encloses the half-moon holes on the body. These openings are similar the pear-drop lozenges on 263, references to enclosures that held inlay on the gold originals and inspired both the bronzes and stone copies. The underside is completely flat and worked smooth. As with the previous plaque nothing identical has been excavated scientifically. More evidence therefore as to their date and provenance, is therefore, awaited. Plaques, though in the shapes of animals, in particular of tigers, are common in the peripheral areas of China. Such creatures can be compared with animal ornament from much further west. Indeed these tigers from the steppe area resemble the creatures on the gold bands said to come from Ziwiyeh in Kurdistan. This tiger motif was to penetrate deep in China, and make a powerful impact. Bronze versions of such tigers have been found at Hebei Tang xian. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REPORT: BM, 9th January 1995: 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] and 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] “were examined using air path X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Both contained silicon, calcium, and iron in major amounts, in proportions consistent with those in the mineral nephrite. Traces of manganese and zinc, not unusual in nephrite, were also detected. Although the qualitative chemical data is consistent with the suggestion that the objects are made of nephrite, positive identification would best be made by X-ray diffraction analysis, requiring removal of an almost indiscernible amount of material. Permission to do this was not received from the owner.”
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
