LATE MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

According to T. T. Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinse Art, San Francisco 2006, p. 117, no. 5.17.2, the combination of a large lion (dashi) and a small lion (xiaoshi) playing with a brocade ball, its ribbons symbolizing longevity and generation, expresses the wish, ‘May you and your descendant achieve high rank‘ (taishi shaoshi).