198.
A PAIR OF ‘FAMILLE VERTE’ ENAMELED BISCUIT MODELS OF BUDDHIST LIONS
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, late 17th – early 18th century
8,5 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. nn. 3913, 3915.
Porcelain statuettes depicting Buddhist lions, or “stone lions” (shizi), a definition which more precisely identifies those stone sculptures put at the entrance of Buddhist temples to defend them from evil influences, were usually produced as a pair, with the female protecting her cub and the male with his paw on the ball which symbolize the Buddhist Law.
Related small sculptures are in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden, formerly in the collection of Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) (see for example inv. n. PO 4323); four pairs of similar Buddhist lions are in the collection of Marie Vergottis (J. Ayers, La collection de porcelains chinoises de Marie Vergottis, Lausanne 2004, pp. 96-97, nn. 73-80); see also the pair in the collection of Anthony de Rotschild (R. Krahl, The Anthony de Rothschild Collection of Chinese Ceramics. 2 voll., London 1996, nn. 222-223) and the example in the Groninger Museum (inv. 2022.0276).
