Tasso (Tiger Tooth) Motif, 35.6×12.1mm, Very Dark Brown Agate, Bloodspots (At-080326-TaBS4)

🪨 Genuine agate. Unretouched photos. What you see is what ships.

The cream on this bead is not plain — look closely and the white zones are alive with it. Hundreds of dark cinnabar pinpoints distributed across the cream field, a reddish-orange concentration tracing the boundary between the cream and the dark ground, the whole surface resolving under the macro lens into a field of mineral inclusions that have been accumulating inside this agate for the better part of three centuries.

This antique tasso dzi carries the classic wave motif in its most generous form: broad S-curve cream bands sweeping across a very dark brown ground, the cream zones wide and dominant, the dark stripes and tiger-tooth elements cutting through them at a diagonal. From one face the wave reads as an upward sweep; rotate the bead and the composition shifts to a downward diagonal; rotate again and the cream resolves into a more angular, tooth-like reading before the wave reasserts on the next turn. The bead is 35.6mm — compact and well-proportioned — with a slightly fuller barrel form that sits solidly in the hand.

The condition is good for a piece of this age. No cracks are present. There is a small surface divot in one of the cream zones, visible in the macro photographs and disclosed here exactly as found. It is a minor surface indentation — not a crack, not a chip from the edge — and does not affect the structural integrity of the bead or the reading of the motif from normal viewing distance. The cream zones otherwise show the characteristic granular surface texture of antique agate at this age range: a fine, slightly matte character consistent with one to three centuries of natural surface transformation.

The macro photographs document cinnabar bloodspots (硃砂, zhusha — mercuric sulfide) distributed throughout the cream zones of this bead. The inclusions appear as dense scattered dark pinpoints across the cream field, with a reddish-orange cinnabar concentration visible at the boundary between the cream and dark ground zones. This is a bead that repays close examination: what appears as a simple cream-white pattern at arm's length reveals itself, under the macro lens, as a complex mineral landscape carrying centuries of accumulated inclusions.

The Tasso (Tiger Tooth / Wave) Motif

The tasso dzi — known variously as the tiger tooth dzi or wave dzi — is one of the oldest and most recognisable forms in the Tibetan dzi tradition. The sweeping S-curve cream bands are understood in Tibetan and Bön tradition as representing the tiger's tooth: a symbol of power, ferocity, and indomitable will. The tiger in Tibetan iconography is one of the four dignities — the four animals representing the four fundamental qualities of the awakened warrior: tiger, snow lion, garuda, and dragon. The tiger represents confidence and a relaxed, unconditional state of being — the capacity to move through the world without anxiety or aggression, with the natural authority of one who is at home in their own skin. Wearing a tasso dzi is said to bestow this quality on the practitioner: the tiger's ease and the tiger's power, expressed through the sweeping waves of the motif.

Spec Block

Motif: Tasso (Tiger Tooth / Wave) — broad S-curve cream wave bands sweeping across very dark brown ground; composition shifts with each rotation
Length: 35.6mm
Diameter: 12.1mm
Form: Barrel
Material: Agate
Age Estimate: Antique — 100–300 years
Condition: Good — no cracks; small surface divot in cream zone disclosed (visible in macro photos); fine age-consistent surface texture throughout cream zones; warm brown end caps are agate-internal colour
Bloodspots: Tier 3 — macro-documented; cream-zone focused scattered distribution with boundary-concentrated reddish cinnabar at cream/dark zone edges; dense pinpoint distribution across cream field
Product ID: At-080326-TaBS4
Collection: Antique Dzi | Bloodspot Dzi

Also in the antique tasso / tiger tooth family:

• At-052526-TaBS — Antique Tasso with Bloodspots, 29.9×12.3mm
• At-092924-TaBS2 — Antique Tasso with Bloodspots, 28.7×11.2mm
• At-093024-TaBS3 — Antique Tasso with Bloodspots, 29.4×14.0mm

Further reading:

• Dzi bead motifs and their meanings
• Tibetan Dzi Beads: Luck, Fortune & Meaning

All photos are unretouched. Colour and surface detail are as photographed.

🪨 Genuine agate. Unretouched photos. What you see is what ships.

📷 8 unretouched product photos included — including 3 macro bloodspot and condition photos.

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