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Lot 101
A very fine and large pair of turquoise and aubergine-glazed Buddhistic lions on plinths Kangxi
8 November 2012, 10:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£40,000 - £60,000
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A very fine and large pair of turquoise and aubergine-glazed Buddhistic lions on plinths
Kangxi
Modelled looking to the left and right, the female with a pup clambering at her feet and the male with a pierced brocade ball, each body glazed in turquoise with aubergine-glazed curls, manes and tail, the face depicted with black bulging eyes, an open jaw revealing fangs and tongue left in the biscuit, seated on a plinth base with shaped apertures at the centre.
Each 51.5cm (20¼in) high (2).
Modelled looking to the left and right, the female with a pup clambering at her feet and the male with a pierced brocade ball, each body glazed in turquoise with aubergine-glazed curls, manes and tail, the face depicted with black bulging eyes, an open jaw revealing fangs and tongue left in the biscuit, seated on a plinth base with shaped apertures at the centre.
Each 51.5cm (20¼in) high (2).
Footnotes
清康熙 松石綠地茄皮紫彩佛獅坐像一對
The lion, 獅 shi, is the king of beasts, popular in many cultures across the globe; in China, a lions playing with a brocade ball and another playing with a cub, 大獅小獅 dashi xiaoshi, represent the wish 'may you and your descendants achieve high rank', 太獅少獅 taishi shaoshi.
Whilst several examples survive of this popular and decorative style of Buddhistic lion, long known as 'Foo' dog in the West, it is very unusual to find a pair of such remarkable size and attractive turquoise and aubergine glaze. There is however a similar pair of turquoise and aubergine glazed lions from the Kangxi period, very slightly smaller (49cm high), originally in the collection of the Prince de Condé in Chantilly at the end of the 18th century and now in the Musée Chinois de l'Impératrice Eugénie, Château de Fontainbleau, no.F 1736 C.
Another such pair is illustrated by A.du Boulay, Chinese Porcelain, London, 1963, pl.74, although the size is not mentioned. Compare a very similar pair, 51cm high, which were offered at Christie's London, 5 June 1972, lot 63.
Compare also a related pair in blanc-de-Chine, but much smaller, from the Burghley Collection, illustrated in The Burghley Porcelains Exhibition, 1986, Catalogue, no.9. Other famille verte examples are illustrated by R.L.Hobson, The Later Ceramic Wares of China, London, 1924, pl.X, and E.Gorer and J.F.Blacker, Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, London, 1911, pl.83.