Lot 52. A very rare jade 'crouching tiger' seal, Han Dynasty, 2.4cm (1in) square. Estimate HK$150,000 - 200,000 (US$19,000 - 26,000). Sold for HK$ 1,062,500 (€121,948). Photo: Bonhams.

The square seal platform surmounted by a ferocious crouching tiger superbly and vividly carved with a writhing body showing a fierce expression with bulging eyes and open mouth, the underside uncarved, the smoothly-polished stone of calcified white tone. 

Provenance: Acquired from the distinguished Hong Kong art dealer Lai Loy (1926-2012) in 1986
The Songzhutang collection, no.69

Published and Illustrated: T.Fok, The Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, Hong Kong, 2011, pl.69

Note: According to Hangong jiuyi (The Old Rites of the Han Dynasty), only the seals of the emperor and empress were made of jade with a tiger-shaped knob, and the seal of the empress bears the same characters as that of the emperor. 

Compare a similar jade seal also vividly carved with a crouching tiger as the knob, Western Han dynasty, excavated from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan in Mancheng, Hebei Province, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol.1, Beijing, 2010, p.195. See also a pale green jade seal, Western Han dynasty, with the underside inscribed 'King's seal', excavated from the tomb of the King of Nanyue at Xianggang, Guangdong Province, illustrated in ibid., vol.11, Beijing, 2010, p.135. 

Bonhams. THE SONGZHUTANG COLLECTION OF EARLY JADES, from the Neolithic Period to the Yuan Dynasty, 30 May 2017, 14:00 HKT - HONG KONG, ADMIRALTY