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Published: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection: Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 54, no. 48.
China, ca. 1046-771 BC. The tiger is shown in profile with the head drawn forwards, mouth ajar, and large angular ears, its undulating back gives it the appearance of a crouching animal with two paws tucked below and the tail curled. On both sides the limbs are revealed in incised scrolling lines. The opaque stone is mottled turquoise and dark green with beige and brown patches and a soft, smooth polish.
Provenance: Alvin Lo Oriental Art, New York, late 1990s-early 2000s. Collection of Robert P. Youngman, New York, acquired from the above and thence by descent. Alvin Lo and Robert Youngman became acquainted after Lo moved to New York in 1997. Youngman had already bought from his father in the 1970s and would become a good client of Lo’s. Numerous pieces published in the book Chinese Jades: The Youngman Collection. From Neolithic to Qing, like the present lot, were acquired by Robert Youngman from Alvin Lo. Alvin Lo is a fourth-generation art collector and dealer specializing in Asian art, with particular expertise in Chinese jades and works of art. He is the fourth son of P. C. Lu, one of the most influential Hong Kong art dealers of the twentieth century. Raised in a family deeply rooted in the art world, Lo developed an early and discerning eye for quality and authenticity. In the 1990s, he founded Alvin Lo Oriental Art in Midtown Manhattan before returning to Hong Kong in the mid-2000s, where he continues his work. Over the past decades, he has published numerous scholarly catalogs and organized exhibitions internationally. Robert P. Youngman (1940-2018) was an investment advisor, philanthropist, and a great enthusiast of Asian art. In 1976, he founded the investment management firm Granite State Corporation, now known as Griffin Asset Management. Youngman joined the Board of Trustees of Middlebury College in 1980 and served as Chairman of its Board for several years. Besides forming an impressive collection himself, he established endowed funds at his alma mater to support the acquisition and curation of Asian art, and authored two books, one on Chinese porcelain and the other on Chinese jades, where the present lot is included.
Condition: Very good condition with extensive wear, traces of prolonged burial, and areas of degradation. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 43.4 g
Dimensions: Length 7.6 cm
With an associated padded storage box. (2)
The zoomorphic design of this piece is characteristic of jade carvings from the Shang dynasty. It is notable that while certain features on the tiger are naturalistically rendered, such as the eyes, other elements are more abstractly represented, such as the use of scrolls on the feet. The apertures in the tiger’s mouth and tail suggests, it might possibly have been worn as a pendant. Jade figures of this type appear to derive from contemporary depictions of tigers on bronzes from southern China, as discussed by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 206, where she illustrates a line drawing of a bronze tiger with one of a jade example from the tomb of Fu Hao, fig. 3.
Similar jade carvings were excavated from the Tomb of Fu Hao, a consort of King Wu Ding (1324-1265 BC), and illustrated in the Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang (Yinxu Fuhao mu), Beijing, 1980, pl. CXXXV, pls. 1 and 2, together with a malachite tiger, pl. CLXXV, no. 4, and one carved from bone, pl. CLXXXIII, no. 3.
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an important archaeological site located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within modern-day Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. Fu Hao is believed to be the Lady Hao mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions by King Wu Ding and one of his many wives. The tomb contained an extraordinary array of artifacts, including 755 jade objects, which encompassed both contemporary Shang jades and older pieces from the Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe cultures. Notably, the Tomb of Fu Hao is the only Shang royal tomb discovered intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location, far from other known burial sites. This pristine condition has provided invaluable insights into Shang dynasty culture and the significance of jade in their ritual practices.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related turquoise pendant of a dragon, dated late Shang dynasty, Anyang period, 5.2 cm long, in the National Museum of Asian Art, accession number S1987.877. Compare a related turquoise inlaid bronze tiger figure, dated late Shang dynasty, 15 cm long, in the Xing Art Museum.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 15 March 2021, lot 8
Price: USD 24,062 or approx. EUR 26,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A turquoise matrix figural Owl pendant, Shang dynasty or later
Expert remark: Compare the closely related stone, manner of carving, and decoration, with similar scrollwork. Note the size (4 cm) and different subject. Note that this figure was also previously in the Youngman Collection.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2020, lot 2727
Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 53,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jade carving of a tiger, Shang dynasty, c. 1600-1046 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and size (8.3 cm). Note the different stone.
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