Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇

Hi all,

Not a snuff bottle this time (hope that's ok), but wanted to get some advice from the jade experts on here and this is a small Chinese object measuring just about 5.5cms in length. Please see this jade tiger below. It has a russet skin and the jade itself is a yellow color with a greenish tinge depending on the light. I really like the carving on this one and there's quite a lot of detail to my eye. Also, I've always been most fond of russet jade. Anyway, after quite a bit of research, reading and looking through a loupe, I think the item is actually hand tooled and I can't find any signs of modern tool marks - the majority of the carving appears to be wheel cut to me with a soft polish, but please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this. Best to learn from mistakes!

Best,
Luke

What a super little animal, I collect tigers my self being born in the year of the tiger going down hill.  I've been going down hill ever since!!!!!! ::) However I am wondering if this is infact a cat as it does not have the usual ruff of fur either side of the face. What do the rest of you think. Either way I wish I had found it.

Regards Jason.

Hi Luke,

Lovely little carving. If you cut his (her) tail off carefully you could drill up it's ahole and convert it into a snuff bottle using the tail as a stopper.  :-[

Regards, Adrian

Thanks Jason - I like this piece too. I’ve recently become fascinated by jade carvings and have been looking into/reading about jade since back in Chou and Han times up to modern day. These kind of animals are common, but this one seems a little unusual. I think it’s a tiger, because of the striping, but I also wondered if it is, in fact, a cat. I’ve no idea of age here really… it’s very hard to judge imo - at least for me.

Adrian - ahaha. It would work too! I’ve seen a few of these carvings where they have been converted into SBs. Weird the way SB makers so often decide to use the ass where you plug the stopper!

Best all,
Luke