† A RARE GRAYISH WHITE AND RUSSET JADE CARVING OF A KNEELING TIGER-HEADED FIGURE, LATE SHANG DYNASTY

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† A RARE GRAYISH WHITE AND RUSSET JADE CARVING OF A KNEELING TIGER-HEADED FIGURE, LATE SHANG DYNASTY 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 1600-1100 BCE. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A copy of Dr. Gu's signed expertise, dated 7 March 2024, 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, circa 1600-1046 BC. Boldly carved in the round as a kneeling anthropomorphic figure with a large tiger-like head, the compact body held upright with both arms extending downward and the hands resting upon the knees. The powerful head is rendered frontally with rounded ears and eyes, a broad muzzle, and a large rectangular open mouth exposing two rows of individually delineated teeth. The cheeks, limbs, and body are embellished with finely incised angular and scrolling motifs characteristic of late Shang ornament. The figure is pierced longitudinally from the top of the head through the base, presumably for attachment or suspension. The semi-translucent stone is of a pale gray-white tone with beige and russet inclusions and extensive areas of creamy-white alteration from burial. Dimensions: Height 5.2 cm Literature comparison: Compare a related jade figure of a tiger-shaped seated human, Western Zhou, in the Henan Museum. Another related but larger marble sculpture of a kneeling anthropomorphic figure with tiger head, Shang dynasty, 37.1 cm high, is in the museum of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, item No.R001757. 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU. 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.

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