Antique Tiger Tooth Dzi, cream-dominant ground, warm rose-cream, 28.5mm × 11.9mm, 300–500 yrs (At-053126-Ta4)

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

On most dzi beads, the cream is the motif. On this one, the cream is the sky.

The two tiger tooth marks sweep diagonally across the face in a bold chevron formation, dark chocolate-brown against a ground of warm rose-cream, and the effect is the inverse of the usual dzi reading. Here the dark zone is the statement and the cream field receives it, framing each tooth mark the way open air frames a mountain ridge. The result is a bead that reads as expansive and uncluttered even at 28.5mm × 11.9mm: the pale ground gives the motif room to breathe, and the motif fills that room decisively.

The body form is notable even within the Tasso family. At 28.5mm long and 11.9mm in diameter, this bead has a wide, low-profile barrel character, broad and rounded across its mid-section, with a generous dome visible in both end-cap images. It sits low and wide in the hand rather than standing tall, with a compact, dense quality.

The agate ground is a warm rose-cream, not white, not sandy, not honey-gold. It carries a subtle blush warmth, and the natural banding within the cream zones is visible in the photographs: soft horizontal growth layers in the agate, undisturbed and intact. The boundaries between the dark chocolate-brown tooth zones and the cream are soft and gradational rather than hard lines, giving the motif an organic, flowing look.

The surface throughout is highly polished and glassy, a deep lustre from three to five centuries of handling. Both end caps are the same warm rose-cream as the body, smooth and rounded, with small centred drill holes.

One surface feature visible in Images 2 and 3 deserves specific mention. Within the dark chocolate-brown zone on the second face there is a distinct rounded dot, about 2–3mm across, of a slightly paler grey-beige tone. It sits within the dark field, not at its edge, and is a natural inclusion: not a chip, not a crack, not a medicine dig, but a small feature within the agate itself. We photograph it exactly as it is, and you will see it immediately in Images 2 and 3.

No cracks. No bloodspots. Weathering consistent with the 300–500 year age estimate is present throughout: fine micro-surface texture in the dark zones, clearest in Image 5, alongside the glassy polish of the cream faces. The two coexist because different zones of the same stone weather differently depending on their density.

The Tiger Tooth (虎牙 / Tasso) Motif

The Tiger Tooth dzi, known in Tibetan as Tasso and in Chinese as 虎牙, is among the oldest and most elemental motifs in the dzi tradition. Its diagonal sweep marks are interpreted as tiger teeth, horse teeth (Tasso refers to the horse in some regional traditions), or, in the most abstract reading, as waves. Across all interpretations, the meaning is consistent: strength, courage, and the ability to overcome adversity. The tiger in Tibetan symbolism is a protector, fierce, present, and unafraid. A bead bearing the tiger tooth is understood to lend that strength to its wearer: the capacity to face difficulty directly, hold steady under pressure, and move through obstacles rather than around them. Read more in Dzi Motifs and Their Interpretations.

Specifications

• Motif: Tiger Tooth / Tasso (虎牙); two large diagonal chocolate-brown tooth marks in chevron formation across opposite faces on a cream field
• Length: 28.5mm
• Diameter: 11.9mm
• Form: Wide low-profile barrel; broad rounded mid-section; generous dome at the end caps
• Material: Natural agate; warm rose-cream ground with visible horizontal banding; deep chocolate-brown motif zones; rose-cream end caps
• Age estimate: Antique, 300–500 years
• Condition: No cracks; highly polished glassy surface; fine micro-texture in the dark zones consistent with age; one small rounded natural inclusion (about 2–3mm, pale grey-beige) within the dark zone on Face B (Images 2 and 3), disclosed
• Bloodspots: None
• Product ID: At-053126-Ta4
• Collection: Antique Dzi Beads

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From the blog

• How to Tell Real vs. Fake Dzi Beads
• Natural Dzi Beads: When the Stone Writes Its Own Story

A 300–500 year old tiger tooth dzi in warm rose-cream agate, where the pale stone is the sky and the dark teeth are everything moving through it.

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