Page 88 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

Fig. 1 Sancai-glazed pottery fgure of a lion, Tang dynasty Fig. 2 Figure of lion, possibly from the lid of a censer, white
(AD 618-907), sold at Christie’s New York, Fine Chinese porcelain, China, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)
Ceramics and Works of Art, 18 September 2003, lot 217. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
847
A VERY RARE AND SUPERBLY MODELED LARGE As in the West, the lion in China was regarded as the king of the beasts,
AMBER-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A SEATED LION and was a symbol of protection, harmony, blessings and high rank. In their
SONG-JIN DYNASTY (AD 960-1234) capacity as defenders of the Buddhist law and protector of sacred buildings,
lion fgures were placed at the entrance to temples, shrines and sometimes
The powerful, seated lion is shown scratching its head with its left rear paw,
private residences. They were usually placed in pairs with the male on the
and with a ribbon hung with a tassel tied around its broad chest. The body is
left, female on the right.
covered with an amber glaze, the chest with a straw glaze and the curly mane
and beard with a now-degraded green glaze.
The powerfully modeled lion is shown in a dynamic pose, with its left rear
13 in. (28 cm.) high
paw scratching its ear in a naturalistic and playful manner. A sancai-glazed
pottery fgure of a lion dating to the Tang dynasty shown in a similar pose,
$50,000-70,000
in the Seikado Museum, Tokyo, is illustrated by Masahiko Sato and Gakuji
Hasebe (eds.) in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 87, no. 67. Another
Tang-dynasty sancai-glazed pottery lion sold at Christie’s New York, 18
September 2003, lot 217 (Fig. 1), displays another variation of this pose, with
its head bent farther to the side and its paw scratching its chin.
Figures of lions shown in this pose remained popular in subsequent periods,
as evidenced by the current fgure, as well as a Xing ware fgure of a lion,
dating to the Northern Song dynasty, formerly in the Eumorphopoulos
Collection and now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, illustrated by J. Ayers
in Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, fg.
74. (Fig. 2)
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C115d58 is consistent with
the dating of this lot.
宋/金 黃釉獅子坐像

(another view)