† A FINE MOTTLED BROWN JADE ‘TIGER’ PENDANT, WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
Lot 158 - HS1225

Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to the Western Zhou period. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu's expertise, dated 16 March 2006, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).

China, c. 1066-771 BC. Finely carved in the form of a recumbent tiger, with the back slightly arched and the body incised with shallow striations to schematically represent the stripes of the animal, extending to a tail curled to form an aperture. The powerful head distinguished by large eyes and a slightly open mouth revealing sharp fangs, carved in openwork for suspension. The opaque stone of varying hues of chocolate brown with dark mottling and veining.

Provenance: A private collection in Hong Kong, 2008. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected wear, natural imperfections, including small fissures and inclusions. Few minuscule nicks and small remnants of soil encrustation around the carved aperture of the tail. The surface with a remarkable soft and unctuous texture, as a result of centuries of handling and appreciation.

Weight: 32.8 g
Dimensions: Length 8.7 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a related jade pendant in the form of a tiger, Anyang period, late Shang dynasty, c. 1300-1050 BC, 9.4 cm long, in the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, accession number S1987.705.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 20 May 2025, lot 3492
Price: HKD 203,200 or approx. EUR 23,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A yellowish-celadon jade ‘tiger’ pendant, Western Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related crouching posture of the carved animal, with similarly raised tail and prominent fangs. Note the slightly smaller size (7.6 cm).