J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York

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Past Exhibition

Buddhist Sculpture from Ancient China

March 10-31, 2017

17.
A PAIR OF MARBLE GUARDIAN BEASTS

Song Dynasty, 12th – 13th Century

the muscular feline beasts shown crouching in a menacing pose with heads raised and turned to one side with ears pinned back, staring intently with bulging eyes, their jaws clenched with fangs exposed, their clawed feet set on a thick rectangular bases, their long forked tails ending in triple scrolls curled onto opposite flanks, the micaceous stone with weathered surface.

Length 14 12 inches and 15 inches (36.8 cm and 38.1 cm)

Compare the large stone seated figure of a feline guardian beast from the collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt, now in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, illustrated by Sirén in Chinese Sculptures in the von der Heydt Collection, Zurich, 1959, pp. 38-39, no. 10.

宋 白石瑞獸一對 長 36.8 和 38.1 厘米