A FRAGMENTARY ARCHAIC WHITE JADE RECUMBENT TIGER Han dynastyA FRAGMENTARY ARCHAIC WHITE JADE RECUMBENT TIGERHan dynasty With mouth open in a roar showing neatly lined teeth and gently curled tongue, the square head with rounded eyes and thick eyebrows, ears pinned back in an obedient gesture, the long tail sweeps onto the back, the base polished flat, the stone showing attractive pale 'onion-white' color, the feet and rump broken in antiquity now with pitted areas and encrustations from burial. 2 1/2in (6.3cm) length漢 白玉臥虎蓆鎮殘件In Han dynasty China, people customarily sat on the floor with finely woven mats layered under their feet. Weights were made in sets of four to place at corners of the mat, often in crouching animal form with rounded edges - so as not to catch the delicate silk robes worn by nobles. It is extremely rare to find a mat weight made of jade. In most cases they are cast in bronze and decorated with gilding and elaborate inlays of gold, silver, and gemstones to indicate social status.Use of a white jade mat weight was recorded in Chu ci (Songs of Chu), a collection of music and poetry from the southern kingdom of Chu, describing the residence of the Lady of the Xiang 白玉兮為鎮 疏石蘭兮為芳 - "use mat weights made of white jade, fragrant the space by sparsely dotting the shi-orchids." Compare the closely related white jade coiled feline in the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection and exhibited at the Asia Society, New York, illustrated by Watt in the catalog Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p. 41, no. 10.