AN EXTREMELY RARE PAIR OF POWERFULLY CARVED WHITE MARBLE LIONS TANG DYNASTY

each stylised beast powerfully modelled seated on its haunches on a rectangular base and depicted with snarling jaws and bulging eyes, rendered with a broad mane symmetrically combed into wing-like projections flanking the head detailed with well-pronounced features, one portrayed with the head turned to the right and biting at its right raised forepaw, the other with both forelegs firmly planted on the base and the hindleg raised up to scratch the edge of its mane, the crystalline white marble of a smooth creamy-buff colour

Collection of the Honorable Senator Hugh Scott (1900-94).
Eskenazi Ltd, London.

Robert D. Kinsman, Chinese art from the Collection of Hugh Scott, Mary Washington College, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1968, p. 12, pl. 15.
Wang Yi-t’ung and Bliss Wiant, Chinese art from the collections of the Honorable Hugh Scott, Art Gallery, Department of Fine Arts, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, 1970, fig. 57-118.
Ancient Chinese Sculpture, Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1978, cat. no. 2.

Hugh Scott, The Golden Age of Chinese Art, New York, 1967, fig. 118.

Apart from a small area of restoration to the paw that the left lion is raising, typical bruising to the corners of the bases and edges of the carving and other general surface wear, they are in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

No animal commanded greater respect and attention at the Tang court than the mighty lion. Ferocious and powerful, and endowed with a rich majestic essence, the lion was revered for its strength, spiritual essence and religious symbolism. Representative of the exoticism of the western regions of India and Central Asia, from where they originated, lions were among the most prized tributary items presented at the Tang capital of Changan. After receiving a lion as tribute from Samarkand in 635, the Emperor Taizong (598-649) celebrated the occasion by commissioning a poem in its honour from the court poet Yu Shinan (558-638). Other embassies at the peak of the golden age of Tang rule were recorded as presenting lions – from Samarkand, Khotan and from Arabia.

Like the elephant, the lion evoked images of India and of Buddhism, its roar representative of a metaphor of the voice of the Buddha propagating the Dharma. The image of Manjusri is frequently presented in Tang art as mounted on a lion. Fundamentally, however, the lion was revered at the Tang court for the powerful protective force it commanded, its role as a guardian figure and emblem of power.

Large stone lions are found at the imperial Tang tombs, where they were placed in pairs as ferocious guardians. See for example a stone lion, from the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, illustrated in Ann Paludan, The Chinese Spirit Road, New Haven and London, 1991, pls 37-38. In contrast to earlier more stylised representation of animal form in the Han dynasty and Six Dynasties period, in these monumental figures the lion is powerful carved with full naturalistic attention to its muscular body and ferocious expression, epitomising the vitality of the Tang sculptural tradition.

The present pair of lions, though smaller than those created with the function of guarding the spirit road, are also imbued with this powerful yet subtle modelling that represents the height of early Tang period sculptural tradition. For other smaller Tang sculptures of lions, compare an individual lion from the collection of Alice Boney, included in the exhibition The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty. A Loan Exhibition Organised by the Los Angeles County Museum from Collections in America, The Orient and Europe, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1957, cat. no. 43. Compare also two larger individual lion stone sculptures depicted seated in the more commonly found four-square posture, the first from the collections of George Eumorfopoulos and Montague Meyer, exhibited in Paris at the Orangerie Des Tuilleries, no. D672, and sold in our New York rooms, 4th December 1985, lot 62, the second from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, sold at Christie’s New York, 17th March 2015, lot 16.

These other examples all depict the lion modelled seated four-square on its hind legs with both forelegs straight and head facing forward. The posture on the current pair, however, is extremely rare, depicting one of the lions inclined with its hind leg raised to scratch its mane, the other depicted biting its foreleg. This rare posture appears to be unique in stone, but can be found in the finest quality sancai pottery figures of lions of the period. Examples include a Tang sancai figure of a lion in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, illustrated by Masahiko Sato and Gakuji Hasebe, eds, Sekai Toji Zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 87, no. 67, and an example sold in our London rooms, 2nd/3rd December 1974, lot 69.