A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A LION TANG DYNASTY |

stately modeled seated on its haunches, the powerful forelegs firmly planted, the head detailed with fierce protruding rounded eyes, thick brows, agape mouth revealing teeth and sharp fangs, and leaf-shaped ears swept to the back, long mane falling into luxurious spiraling curls, the long bushy tail turned upward against its back, all raised on a circular pedestal base of pendent lotus petals

Moy Fook Wah Family Collection.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

There are patch repairs to several areas, including the right hind knee, near the top of the left foreleg, left side of the lower back, and one petal below the left leg. The tips of the furcated tail are bent. Overall with some small losses to the extremities, including to the top tip of the tail. Some expected minor wear to the gilding, and the surface with some minor areas of malachite encrustation, all consistent with age and type.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

One of the most admired and respected of animals at the Tang court, 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 Chang'an. The lion also evoked images of India and of Buddhism; its roar a metaphor for the Buddha propagating the Dharma. The image of Manjuhri 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.

Lion figures of this type were likely part of an elaborate altar group, where they would have appeared together with other guardian figures and attendants in front of the Buddha or a bodhisattva. Compare such a group with two lion figures, in the Avery Brundage Collection, published in René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé and Diana Turner, ed., Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Tokyo, 1974, pl. 92.

Compare a related gilt-bronze lion of a smaller size, cast with a very similar furcated upright tail, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, acc. no. 000360-N000000000. For auction examples, see a lion cast seated on a rockwork base, sold in our London rooms, 27th November 1973, lot 27; one on a circular ring base, sold in our London rooms, 26th March 1963, lot 5; a third sold in these rooms, 6th November 1981, lot 42; one without a base, but with a similarly modeled head, sold in these rooms, 23rd October 1976, lot 107; and another sold at Christie's New York, 30th November 1983, lot 320.