E85 Tiger-shaped Jade Huang Pendant

E85 Tiger-shaped Jade Huang Pendant  (length: 5.22cm, height: 2.78cm)

Green jade, lustrous, with pure luster. It is in the shape of a Huang.  The tiger is in the shape of lying, closed, with a hole in the mouth. The eyes are nearly round. The ears are in the shape of clouds. The head and tail of the tiger are decorated with light relief clouds. The tail is thick, long and drooping, and the tail end is curled up. The body of the tiger is carved with a six degree arc like a bow to show the stripes of the tiger. In addition to the front and back feet, the tiger is decorated with convex horns around it. Part of the decoration is still obvious: one side is vertical, the other side is a slope of the Western Zhou style (this carving method did not existed after Warring States period). They have the same pattern on both sides.            

This jade tiger shaped Huang: it has a strange idea, full of verve, and the sculptor has a rough and unrestrained momentum, with a high ancient and vigorous beauty. This carving method is typical of the spring and autumn jade carving, which is not available later.            

this jade ware is very similar to its later one: a pair of "Jade Tiger Shaped Huang Pendant" from tomb No. 1, Xiasi, Xichuan County, Henan Province (in the late spring and Autumn period). Later, the sculptors of this pair were bigger and more refined than it, which was due to the continuous progress of technology. But this one shows more ancient, simple, elegant and lovely!