A PALE GREEN AND BROWN JADE TIGER MING DYNASTY |

carved in the round, the coiled recumbent feline with its legs tucked under its body, the head lowered resting on the front paws, the long tail curled around the body and nestled between the head and paws, the face with squared eyes above a ruyi-form nose and straight mouth suggested by a single incised line, the small circular ears pinned back, the body with a neatly defined ridge and sparsely detailed with incised lines, the stone of a greenish-beige color with russet and brown inclusions

C.T. Loo, New York, 19th April 1951.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XXV, fig. 1 a-b. 

There is a small shallow chip to the front right claw and a few small chips along the edges of the tail. Otherwise, the carving is in overall good condition with expected natural fissures to the stone. The actual color is less green compared to the catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The pictorial tradition of depicting tigers in Chinese art has been traced back to circa 4000 BC, when profile images of the a tiger and dragon were found on either side of a human skeleton found in a burial site at Xishuipo, Puyang, present day Henan province. Later, the tiger would be included as one of the animals of the four directional animals, sishen, representing the west.  The present lot is based on jade tigers from the Han dynasty which are typically carved in coiled recumbent or seated positions, following the form of the pebble, and carved with squared eyes, sparsely incised details and a flattened base. Compare one, with the head raised, in the collection of Brian McElney, included in the exhibition Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1980, cat. no. 9; one with the mouth agape, illustrated in Alfred Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection, Chicago, 1952, pl. CVI, fig. 1; another in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 199; and two included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. nos 45-46. Another, formerly in the collection of Jon Edwards, was sold at Christie's New York, 2nd December 1989, lot. 185. 

Such jade carvings clearly echo bronze casting of the Han dynasty, including a number of gilt-bronze and inlaid-bronze mat weights. Compare a single tiger-form gilt-bronze mat weight from the Alsdorf Collection, included in the exhibition Arts of the Han Dynasty, Chinese Art Society of America, New York, 1961, cat. no. 58; and a similar pair included in the exhibition A Bronze Mengarie: Mat Weights of Early China, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2007, cat. no. 1.