This dramatically portrayed lion with bulging muscles, thrusting legs and arching back is characteristic of the sculpture of the Tang dynasty, particularly in the eighth century, when the splendor and confidence of that cosmopolitan period was at its height. The lion is very much in the service of Buddhism, which was most influential between the fourth and the ninth centuries, as it represented in its roar the dissemination of the Buddhist scriptures. It is also part of the indigenous tradition of guardian figures that can be traced back to the Shang dynasty. See John Hay, Masterpieces of Chinese Art, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1974, pp. 3 and 4

A pair of stone lions was recently found guarding the front room of the underground hoard of Buddhist relics at the Famen temple. See Famen Temple, China Shaanxi Tourist Publishing House, 1990, pp. 164-167

Compare the pair of white marble lions of similar size from the collection of the author, illustrated by Hugh Scott, The Golden Age of Chinese Art, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan, 1967, fig. 118. Another lion, of larger size and with its head turned to its left, is in the Collection of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and illustrated by John Hay, ibid., pl. 2. Another white marble lion included in the exhibition, Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, January 12-April 2, 1929, Catalogue, no. 321 and later sold in our London rooms, March 25, 1974, lot 73, is seated in a similar pose on a plinth and displays the same muscularity and intensity of demeanor as the present example