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

Name: Ancient Five Tiger Stripe Carnelian Dzi, 31.6×11.4mm, rare octagonal form, terracotta-red, 800–1,000 yrs (Ac-030525-5TS)
Price: 1100.0 USD
Availability: InStock

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

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 bead.

Octagonal dzi are uncommon. At 31.6mm × 11.4mm, in carnelian, 800–1,000 years old, this bead carries five continuous tiger stripe chevron bands wrapping its eight-sided form without a break. The octagonal body required deliberate faceting of the carnelian before etching, a demanding shaping method seen far less often than the round barrel.

The Five Tiger Stripe motif runs as five parallel chevron bands along the bead, each a V-form, the arms meeting at the central axis and pointing toward the drill holes. The chevron lines are thick and bold for the bead's width. On the main faces (Images 2 and 3), the five rows sit closely spaced, filling the face with an almost architectural density. The motif is closely related to the tiger tooth (虎牙): the same diagonal chevron logic, here a continuous striped field rather than separate tooth pairs, sharing the meaning of strength and courage.

The carnelian ground is a warm terracotta-red to deep reddish-brown with natural colour variation, some zones a brighter red-orange, others a rich brown-red where the stone's internal banding shows. The motif lines are warm sandy-cream to ivory-white, heavily weathered throughout: rough crumbly edges and white residue along the etching margins. This is not sharp etching. It is etching that has spent eight to ten centuries becoming part of the stone.

Images 5 through 8 show the ends and drill holes. The white-background shots (Images 5 and 6) show one end more tapered and one slightly flatter, a natural asymmetry from hand-shaping. The macro shots (Images 7 and 8) show the drill holes in detail: large, irregular, and funnel-shaped, widening as they enter the carnelian in the classic ancient hand-drilled profile, with rims worn round by centuries of cord contact.

The Five Tiger Stripe (五虎紋) Motif

The Tiger Stripe motif (虎紋) 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 harmful influences. The number five carries meaning in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the four directions and the centre, the five Buddha families, the five elements, and the eight-sided form recalls completeness in Buddhist symbolic geometry. As with all striped dzi, it is the motif itself, not the number of stripes, that carries the meaning; choose the bead whose look speaks to you. Read more in Carnelian Dzi Beads: The Pema Raka Guide.

Specifications

Motif: Five Tiger Stripe (五虎紋); five parallel V-chevron bands along the bead; also readable as a tiger tooth stripe variant
Length: 31.6mm
Diameter: 11.4mm
Form: Octagonal cross-section; eight flat faces; hand-faceted; slightly asymmetric taper
Material: Natural carnelian; warm terracotta-red to deep reddish-brown ground; heavily weathered sandy-cream to ivory-white motif lines
Age estimate: Ancient, 800–1,000 years
Condition: Motif lines heavily weathered, consistent with age; large irregular funnel-shaped drill holes with worn rims from ancient hand-drilling; natural patina throughout; no structural cracks
Bloodspots: None visible
Product ID: Ac-030525-5TS
Collections: Carnelian Dzi (Pema Raka) | Original Ancient Dzi