Chinese Stone Seal, with Sculpted Tiger and Cub

For me, this tiger and cub are first and foremost a powerful sculpture, which just happens to be a seal too. A tiger sits with a cub nestled in front of her, atop of a rectangular stone slab. The sculpture itself is almost as high as the stone slab. The bottom of the slab where the seal was carved has been removed, so that one could carve the surface anew. I acquired the sculpture in Hong Kong from a man I have visited every now and then, over the years.

The tiger sits atop of a pedestal, or high mountain, gazing down, with an incredibly muscular back and neck. The animal guards its cub. Her face, whilst not aggressive, warns you not to get too close. She reveals her fangs in warning. The cub also looks down, imitating the expression of its parent, with hind legs standing playfully on the great front paw of the mother. The tiger is China's symbol of energy and power. This stone sculpture demands attention, and I placed her proud features as a stand between books above my writing desk. In other words, I will be sad to say goodbye to this tiger and cub who have guarded my books so well!

The carving is in Shoushan stone, an agalmatolite, a red stone with some white colouring. The stone is named after the village of Shoushan, where it is traditionally mined and has been used for making seals for over a thousand years. It is traditionally one of China's four seal stones. This one is visually attractive, as the body of the stone slab is a dark, brownish red, whilst the head of the large tiger turns from a pinkish red on the neck to sheer white on his face. At the edges the stone is, when held against a light, translucent.

I love the smoothness of the stone and one can easily recognize that it was used, for the many touches of human hands, holding the tigers body when printing the seal have polished the animals muscular body, except for the head. This makes sense, as the figure fits the hand as such, so that one would naturally leave the head of the adult gazing down at the world from the arch between thumb and index finger.

Nb Is the tiger is more likely to be the mother and not the father? I have referred to the tiger as female and hope it is right!

DB