The Buddhistic lion is an emblem of valour and energy, those indispensible complements of wisdom. It does not appear in Chinese primitive art, although it was introduced later with Buddhism, figuring as the Defender of Law and Protector of Sacred Buildings. The male lion is often seen playing with a ball and flanked by a joss-stick holder, which was probably filled with flowers before being mounted.

An extremely closely related pair of Buddhistic lions in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (no.220) is illustrated in Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinesisches und Japanisches Porzellan in Europaïschen Fassungen, Braunschweig, 1980, p.373, Abb. 384