SHANG DYNASTY, C. 1600-1046 BC

Details

A JADE TIGER-FORM FINIAL
SHANG DYNASTY, C. 1600-1046 BC
The jade is carved in the form of a tiger’s head and forelimbs, with a large circular aperture pierced from the mouth through the back. The stone is of a pale yellowish-white tone with some faint caramel fissures and tiny areas of opaque inclusions.
3/4 in. (1.9 cm.) high, box

Provenance

Lantien Shanfang Collection, acquired in Taipei in 1992

Lot Essay

The present jade carving is closely related to two turquoise-inlaid bronze finials fitted with jade cylinders excavated from the tomb of the Shang queen Fu Hao at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province, see Yinxu Fuhao mui (The Jades from the tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu), Beijing, 1980, pl. 76, figs. 3 (93), 4 (929), which may have served as decorative elements on lacquered wood vessels. It is possible that the current carving was also fitted with a cylinder of a different material.

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