Tiger Tooth Motif, 22.1×18.3mm, cream-white and brown agate (V-062926-TT)

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

Turn this bead and the cream and brown trade places — the side that looks dark from one angle looks pale from another.

This is a vintage round dzi from 1980s Taiwan in natural agate, with a cream-white ground and deep chocolate to warm olive-brown tiger tooth banding. Here the cream is not an accent but the main field, with the dark bands moving across it in chevrons and sweeps. From one side the bead looks mostly pale; a quarter turn and the brown dominates.

From the front, the banding forms a clear chevron or bat-wing shape at the top, with two broad brown bands below separated by a cream stripe. Turn it and the chevron dissolves into a flowing dark zone, with cream breaking through as bold stripes. From the drill ends the bands wrap in diagonal arcs. No two views are the same.

The surface shows some forty years of genuine wear: fine natural micro-crackle and slight brown staining in the cream areas, and a soft, worn gloss on the brown. The crown is gently irregular, typical of hand-made pieces. The drilling is clean. No cracks or chips.

This is a vintage bead, made in Taiwan in the 1980s using the traditional dzi crafting technique.

The Tiger Tooth Motif

The tiger tooth (tasso) is one of the foundational dzi motifs, standing for the tiger's protective strength and courage — the tiger being one of the Four Dignities of Tibetan tradition. Taiwan's dzi makers of the 1970s and 1980s carried on the same traditions in natural agate, with careful attention to the motif's proportions.

Specifications

• Motif: Tiger Tooth (tasso)
• Size: 22.1mm × 18.3mm
• Form: Round to ovoid with a gently irregular crown
• Material: Agate, cream-white with chocolate to olive-brown banding
• Age: Vintage, 1980s Taiwan, made using the traditional dzi crafting technique
• Condition: No cracks or chips; fine micro-crackle and slight staining in the cream areas
• Bloodspots: None
• Product ID: V-062926-TT
• Collection: Taiwan Dzi | Round Beads

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Further Reading

• Taiwan Dzi Beads: The Vintage 1980s Guide
• Dzi Bead Motifs and Their Meanings

Five unretouched photographs on a white background, including views of the drill ends.