Period:Warring States period Production date:4thC BC- 1stC BC
Materials:jade, cinnabar,
Technique:pierced, polished (?),
Subjects:mammal (tiger) reptile
Dimensions:Height: 7.30 centimetres Width: 16.40 centimetres
Description:
Animals in combat plaque of dark green opaque jade with cinnabar and earth encrustation.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure BM-2022-3034.176-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Warring States period/Jades/263_.jpg)
Comments:This Ordos pierced plaque is carved in relief depicting two tigers in combat with a writhing fanged reptile on a ground and surround of “grain-like” motifs. The rectangular piece is notched on the two short sides. See James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980, Rawson 1995, pp.311-312, cat.no.23.1, and Keverne 1991. The rectangular surface of this plaque is pierced and worked in relief to depict two tigers or leopards attacking a dragon with a large head in profile and a long sinuous neck. The body of this creature caries long parallel grooves, while the felines have coats covered in a pear-drop patterns which also form a border around the rectangular frame. On the two short sides this frame is cut by two c-shaped indents, probably for attaching the piece to something in metal. The back is completely flat. The surface of the plaque is smoothly polished on both sides.The plaque is identical with bronze plaques used as belt ornaments by the steppe peoples. Such belt plaques were often framed by a rectangular border with pear-drop lozenges as on this piece. These lozenges were directly descended from the enclosures used on gold to frame inlay of turquoise. Both the reference to inlay of precious stones and the depiction of animals in combat are features taken over by the steppe peoples and by the Chinese from areas much further west. While in Inner Mongolia such subjects were generally presented on flat plaques, in the centre of China they were depicted in a variety of forms, including figures in the round and silhouettes incorporating Chinese creatures as shown on a disc from the tomb of the king of Nan Yue at Canton. The use of stone to reproduce a plaque generally made in metal, either gold or bronze, is a somewhat surprising development, especially as the plaque imitates the bronze so closely. Although there are no exact parallels for the present piece or for 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.4], there is excavated evidence of the use of steppe subjects in jade, framed in metal. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REPORT: BM, 9th January 1995: 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] and 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.4] “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,
Technique:pierced, polished (?),
Subjects:mammal (tiger) reptile
Dimensions:Height: 7.30 centimetres Width: 16.40 centimetres
Description:
Animals in combat plaque of dark green opaque jade with cinnabar and earth encrustation.
IMG
Comments:This Ordos pierced plaque is carved in relief depicting two tigers in combat with a writhing fanged reptile on a ground and surround of “grain-like” motifs. The rectangular piece is notched on the two short sides. See James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980, Rawson 1995, pp.311-312, cat.no.23.1, and Keverne 1991. The rectangular surface of this plaque is pierced and worked in relief to depict two tigers or leopards attacking a dragon with a large head in profile and a long sinuous neck. The body of this creature caries long parallel grooves, while the felines have coats covered in a pear-drop patterns which also form a border around the rectangular frame. On the two short sides this frame is cut by two c-shaped indents, probably for attaching the piece to something in metal. The back is completely flat. The surface of the plaque is smoothly polished on both sides.The plaque is identical with bronze plaques used as belt ornaments by the steppe peoples. Such belt plaques were often framed by a rectangular border with pear-drop lozenges as on this piece. These lozenges were directly descended from the enclosures used on gold to frame inlay of turquoise. Both the reference to inlay of precious stones and the depiction of animals in combat are features taken over by the steppe peoples and by the Chinese from areas much further west. While in Inner Mongolia such subjects were generally presented on flat plaques, in the centre of China they were depicted in a variety of forms, including figures in the round and silhouettes incorporating Chinese creatures as shown on a disc from the tomb of the king of Nan Yue at Canton. The use of stone to reproduce a plaque generally made in metal, either gold or bronze, is a somewhat surprising development, especially as the plaque imitates the bronze so closely. Although there are no exact parallels for the present piece or for 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.4], there is excavated evidence of the use of steppe subjects in jade, framed in metal. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REPORT: BM, 9th January 1995: 263 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.3] and 264 [2014,AsiaLoan,1.4] “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)
