This set of jade seals consists of four jade seals on a black bird-shaped base. Each jade seal has a carved head of a mythical animal worshipped in the Shang Dynasty, namely a dragon, a tiger, a bear, and an owl. They represent royal power, military force, wisdom, and spiritualism.
The Xuanniao, or bird of heaven, descended to give birth to the Shang Dynasty. The Shang monarchs believed that their power was granted by the Xuanniao and that they were descendants of the Xuanniao. Therefore, the bird totem was a symbol of supreme divine power in the Shang Dynasty. The four sacred animals represented the king, civil and military officials, and wizards. It can be seen that the owner of this set of jade seals must be at the emperor level.
This set of jade seals is made of green jade, with local patina, weathering patterns, and slight changes in the texture of the jade. The patina is thick. The overall carving is delicate, the patterns are gorgeous, and the extremely difficult relief carving and hollowing techniques at that time were used.
The shapes, carvings and decorative techniques of this set of black bird and four sacred beasts are typical of the Shang Dynasty.
The base of the black bird is in a prone position, with its feet spread out and close to the side of its face. It has a hooked beak, thick eyebrows, huge eyes, and bulging eyeballs. It has an ear-shaped feather crest. Its wings are folded on both sides of its body, and the wings are decorated with hook-shaped patterns and cloud patterns. The tail is forked and the tail feathers are neatly carved in intaglio lines. There is a square groove on the back for placing four jade seals. The abdomen is flat, with a thirteen-character inscription engraved on it.
The four jade seal buttons are:
Curled-tailed dragon: eyes with the shape of a minister, mushroom-shaped horns, open mouth with teeth showing. The whole body is decorated with double-negative diamond-shaped dragon scales, shield-shaped dragon gills, and even the dragon spine and claws are detailed.
Tiger, Bear: eyes in the shape of a minister, ears erect, tiger mouth open with teeth exposed, bear mouth wide open with cheeks splayed, both bodies decorated with double negative line shield pattern, rolling cloud pattern. Both are in kneeling posture, hands on knees.
Owl: eyes in the shape of a minister, erect ears, hooked beak, wings folded, decorated with hook and cloud patterns. Sitting in a squatting position.
size and weight:
Base: Length 127mm (5") Width 68mm (2.68") Height 24mm (0.95") Weight 334g (0.74lb)
Dragon Seal: 24mm*23mm*42mm Weight 48g
Tiger seal: 23mm*23mm*48mm, weight 52g
Bear print: 21mm*23mm*47mm, weight 50g
Owl seal: 22mm*22mm*46mm, weight 49g
