Jade. China, Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn period, 5th - 4th century BC 虎形玉佩 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前5世紀-前4世紀 Pendants shaped as crouching tigers with slightly arched bodies were common during the Eastern Zhou period and developed after earlier Western Zhou examples. The tiger-shaped ornament illustrated here is a magnificent 5th-4th century BC example that displays the typical combination of abstract and realistic details of Eastern Zhou tiger-shaped jades. The crouching tiger is carved in exquisite white jade. The basic form is rectangular in shape and defined by gentle curves, truncated extensions, notches and curls that indicate the various parts of the tiger’s body. There is also a hole, drilled obliquely from both sides, located around the animal’s tail, and a cut-out above it. The contour of the body is decorated with finely incised parallel lines, while carved curls further accentuate the curves. The top part of body is covered with doubleincised lines filled with striations on a plain background indicating the tiger’s stripes, while the lower part of the body is covered with fat double scrolls. The beautiful translucent jade is highly polished with an almost glass-like quality: areas of light and dark brown can only be seen around sections of the border and some encrustations remain within the lines carved on the jade. The top notches and a tiny spot on the snout show minor traces of alteration. An almost identical carving in brownish jade was discovered in 1978 in the tombs of the kings of the Zhongshan state (Pingshan county, Hebei province: see Yang Boda, Zhongguo meishu quanji: yuqi 中國美术全集 - 玉器 (Chinese works of art series: jade) vol.9, Beijing 1986, no.122. Compare also a matching tiger in white jade auctioned at Galerie Zacke on 2 December 2017: see no.32 in the accompanying catalogue. Provenance: From an old Austrian collection LENGTH 8.6 CM - WIDTH 4 CM 長8.6 厘米 -寬4 厘米 Expertise: Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and dated by Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati. Professor Salviati teaches Chinese and Korean art at Sapienza University in Rome, in the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies. He is a world expert on archaic Chinese jades, having released multiple publications and being cited by renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s.