A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL LION

Details

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL LION
SIX DYNASTIES

Seated with its right leg raised pawing the air, its head turned slightly to the left, with wing-like tufts rising from each shoulder and a long tail rising up its back; together with a gilt-bronze lokapala, Tang dynasty, standing atop rockwork in the usual pose with his right arm raised above the head and the left hand on his hip, wood stand
2 1/8 and 2½in. (5.4 and 6.4cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

A very similar figure of a lion was included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art from the Collection of James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf, Arts Club of Chicago, 1970, Catalogue, no. B 30; and another closely related figure from the Cunliffe Collection was illustrated by Bluett & Sons, Exhibition of Early Chinese Art, London, 1973, Catalogue, no. 54, p. XXVII

For another gilt-bronze standing lokapala see Eskenazi, Ancient Chinese bronze vessels, gilt bronzes and sculptures; two private collections, one formerly part of the Minkenhof Collection, London, 1977, Catalogue, no. 20, pp. 34-35