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An 19th-early 20th century, pair of Guardian Lions or Foo dogs from China. Nephrite or Jadeite: light yellow-white of uneven, patchy character with brown specks. This is an exquisite pair. Large but not too large that you can’t display in your interior. They carry a weight of 7.20 kilos.
 
They are in perfect condition and measure: 10.00 inches long and 7.50 inches tall or 25.50 cm x 19.00 cm.
 
Associated with the quality of strength, and emblem of the clan to which the Historical Buddha belonged, lions became a popular subject of sculpture in the post-Han period when Buddhism was spreading throughout China. Lions are a species known historically to the Chinese only by hearsay or perhaps through an occasional example presented to the Imperial zoo as tribute from foreign lands. Chinese artists based their visual concept of “lion” on Indian art examples as well as descriptions of the creatures’ attributed character, arriving at a physical form which has proven satisfactory for successive centuries of artists and public. A single lion serves as the vehicle of the Buddhist figure Wen Shu (CTAP, p. 12), but traditionally lions in east Asian art appear in pairs, set to either side of entrances into important buildings of both religious and secular nature, and in front of throne or altar complexes, a practice possibly dated as early as the second century a.d. As with Six Dynasties, Sui, and Tang examples, the musculature of the beasts is exaggerated and the beasts are ready to attack evil doers who wish to pass by them.