Vintage Tiger Tooth Motif Dzi Bead with Bloodspots, 35.6×11.1mm, cream and dark dark brown agate (V-030326-TTBS)

✦ Unretouched photos. Ethically sourced. Securely packaged. ✦

On most dzi beads in this collection, the dark ground is the field and the cream lines are the motif. On this bead it is the other way around — the cream is the field, and the dark dark brown Tiger Tooth forms sit within it.

The result is a bead that reads as pale first. The cream zones take up the majority of the surface, wide and open, with a warm peach tone that shifts slightly in different lighting. The two Tiger Tooth forms — paired dark dark brown curves facing each other across the central zone — sit as focal points within that pale ground rather than as breaks in a dark surface. At the ends, dark dark brown plain stripes frame the composition in. Rotate the bead a quarter-turn and the tooth forms reduce to dark fins or arcs, the cream reading as an even broader band; rotate again and the bead is almost entirely pale, the dark motif visible only at the upper edge of the frame.

The surface is high-gloss on the dark zones, with the cream carrying a slightly warmer, softer character under the same light.

No structural cracks are present — my own independent finding from the photos. Under macro magnification, Image 7 shows a very fine hair-like line on one of the cream zones: this appears to be a superficial surface scratch rather than a structural crack, but it is disclosed here so the buyer has a complete picture of the piece's surface condition.

Bloodspot (Cinnabar / 硃砂 / Zhusha) Detail

Both macro photos document cinnabar inclusions distributed across the cream zones. The mercuric sulfide (硃砂, zhusha) appears as scattered reddish-orange to warm russet speckling — individual dots visible throughout the cream field, with some concentration near the boundary where cream meets dark dark brown. On a cream-ground bead this coloration is particularly visible, the warm russet tones reading clearly against the pale background. Distribution pattern: cream-zone scattered with boundary concentration.

The Tiger Tooth Motif

The Tiger Tooth (sometimes called Tasso or Horse Teeth in Tibetan tradition) is one of the oldest recurring motifs in dzi bead culture. Its paired, curved forms have been interpreted in different traditions as tiger's fangs, horse teeth, and cresting waves — the motif's ambiguity is part of its long history, with different communities reading different meanings into the same visual language. Across traditions, it is associated with strength, protection, and the power to overcome obstacles. The tiger's authority in Tibetan symbolism is specific: not aggressive dominance, but the kind of grounded, unhurried force that does not need to announce itself. Wearers of the Tiger Tooth dzi traditionally sought that quality — resilience and quiet confidence in the face of difficulty — and the paired composition of two facing teeth is understood to double and balance that protective force.

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Spec Block

Motif: Tiger Tooth (Tasso / Horse Teeth)
Length: 35.6mm
Diameter: 11.1mm
Form: Barrel
Material: Natural agate
Age Estimate: Vintage — Taiwan, crafted 1980s
Condition: No structural cracks. Superficial hair-like surface scratch visible on cream zone under macro (Image 7) — disclosed.
Bloodspots: Tier 3 — cream-zone scattered with boundary concentration. Reddish-orange to warm russet cinnabar (硃砂/zhusha, mercuric sulfide) distributed throughout cream zones; concentrated at cream-dark boundaries. Macro-documented.
Product ID: V-030326-TTBS
Collection: New & Vintage Dzi | Taiwan Dzi | Bloodspot Dzi

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Browse the full New & Vintage Dzi collection, Taiwan Dzi collection, and Bloodspot Dzi collection.

For other Tiger Tooth pieces in the collection, see the Vintage Double Tiger Tooth Pair V-041122-DTT and the Vintage Round Tiger Tooth V-062926-TT.

Looking for an antique Tiger Tooth?
See the antique tasso pieces: At-052526-TaBS, At-092924-TaBS2, and At-093024-TaBS3.

Learn more: What Are Dzi Beads? | What Makes a Dzi Bead Authentic?

Each bead at Ancient Dzi Shop is ethically sourced and listed with unretouched photos so you see exactly what you are receiving.

✦ Unretouched photos. Ethically sourced. Securely packaged. ✦

Photos: 7 unretouched product images — three body rotation views, two angled end shots, two macro detail shots documenting cinnabar inclusions and surface condition.

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