Ancient Five Tiger Stripe Carnelian Dzi, 31.6×11.4mm, rare octagonal form, terracotta-red, 800–1,000 yrs (Ac-030525-5TS)

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

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The cross-section of this bead is not round and not oval — it has eight sides, and each flat face carries a section of the same five-chevron composition running uninterrupted around the full circumference.

Only one other octagonal dzi exists in this collection: At-120120-2E7, the rare octagonal two-eye agate bead at 21.8mm. That bead is smaller, younger, and carries an eye motif on a dark agate ground. Ac-030525-5TS is everything different: 31.6mm × 11.4mm, carnelian, 800–1,000 years old, and carrying five continuous tiger stripe chevron bands that wrap around the eight-sided form without interruption. The octagonal body is not a decorative choice. It is a rare forming technique from the ancient period of dzi production — a shaping method that requires deliberate faceting of the raw carnelian before etching, and that is almost never encountered in the market.

The Five Tiger Stripe motif runs as five parallel chevron bands along the length of the bead — each band a V-form, the two arms of the V meeting at the bead's central axis and pointing toward the drill holes at each end. The chevron lines are thick and bold in proportion to the bead's width. From the primary faces (Images 2 and 3), the five rows sit closely spaced, filling the face field with an almost architectural density. The motif is closely related to the tiger tooth (虎牙/hǔ yá) — the same diagonal chevron logic, here expressed as a continuous striped field rather than isolated tooth pairs. The original listing notes this relationship explicitly: the tiger stripe and tiger tooth motifs share their symbolic register of strength and courage, and at this density and age the stripe reading is the dominant one.

The carnelian ground is a warm terracotta-red to deep reddish-brown with natural colour variation across the surface — some zones a brighter warm red-orange, others deepening toward rich warm brown-red as the agate's internal banding comes through. The motif lines are warm sandy-cream to ivory-white, heavily weathered throughout: rough crumbly edges, partial mineralisation along the line walls, white residue accumulation at the etching margins. This is not sharp etching. It is etching that has spent eight to ten centuries becoming part of the stone.

The end faces and drill holes are documented in Images 5 through 8. The white-background shots (Images 5 and 6) show the two ends — one more tapered, one slightly flatter, confirming the bead's natural asymmetry from hand-shaping. The macro shots (Images 7 and 8) show the drill hole character in detail: large, irregular, funnel-shaped — widening as it enters the carnelian in the classic ancient hand-drilling profile. The worn, rounded rim of the hole shows centuries of cord contact. No modern drill produces this profile.

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The Five Tiger Stripe (五虎紋/Wǔ Hǔ Wén) Motif

The Tiger Stripe motif — 虎紋 (Hǔ Wén) in Chinese — is understood in Tibetan and trans-Himalayan amulet tradition as an expression of the tiger's protective force: strength, fearlessness, and the power to ward off evil influences. Five rows of tiger stripe represent the fullest expression of this power — the number five in Tibetan Buddhist cosmology aligning with the five directions (the four cardinal points plus the centre), the five Buddha families, and the five elements. A five-stripe bead is understood to carry protective force in all directions simultaneously, without gap or weakness. Combined with the rare octagonal form — itself a shape associated with completeness and the eight-fold path in Buddhist symbolic geometry — this bead carries both formal and symbolic rarity in a single piece.

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Spec Block

Motif: Five Tiger Stripe (五虎紋/Wǔ Hǔ Wén); five parallel V-chevron bands running the length of the bead; also readable as Tiger Tooth (虎牙) stripe variant Length: 31.6mm Diameter: 11.4mm Form: Rare octagonal cross-section; eight flat face panels; hand-faceted carnelian; slightly asymmetric taper — one end more pointed than the other Material: Natural carnelian; warm terracotta-red to deep reddish-brown ground with natural colour variation; warm sandy-cream to ivory-white heavily weathered motif lines Age Estimate: 800–1,000 years (Ancient tier) Condition: Motif lines heavily weathered and partially mineralised consistent with age; large irregular funnel-shaped drill hole with worn rim confirming ancient hand-drilling; natural surface patina throughout; no structural cracks Bloodspots: None confirmed Product ID: Ac-030525-5TS Collection: Ancient Dzi Collection | Carnelian Dzi Collection

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• At-082525-4ETT — Antique Four Eye & Tiger Tooth Dzi, 46.4mm × 11.5mm
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Blog Links

• What Are Dzi Beads? History, Meaning & Authentication
• Ancient Carnelian Dzi: The Oldest Materials in the Tradition

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Eight sides, five chevron rows, eight to ten centuries of use — Ac-030525-5TS is the only octagonal carnelian tiger stripe bead in the collection.

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

📷 We never retouch our photos. Every bead is photographed exactly as it is. What you see is what you receive.

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