Lot 45
45
A BLACK BASALT LION GROUP

TANG DYNASTY, 7TH CENTURY

Details
A BLACK BASALT LION GROUP
Tang Dynasty, 7th Century
Seated on a waisted octagonal lotus plinth on its rear haunches, with finely detailed mane and strong head, its tail swept over its right back leg, a nicely delineated bell collar tied at its neck, its right foreleg placed on the back of its cub
96in. (23.2cm.) high

Lot Essay

For a larger black stone lion also seated on a lotus base, see Christie's, New York, November 27, 1991, lot 23, formerly in the Collection of Kenneth Clark, later Lord Clark of Saltwood, O.M., C.M., K.C.B. A number of stone and ceramic lions, a potent symbol of the majesty and strength of the Tang, have survived. (See lots 60 and 72 in the present sale.) See also a white marble lion illustrated in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Handbook of the Collection, 1959, no. 188.