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Foo Dog - China - Qing Dynasty - Late 1800 circa - Polychrome porcelain and wood.

Ancient Chinese statue (from around the end of the 1800s), depicting a Foo Dog who, as a millenary tradition has it, holds a globe in its claws.

The "Guardian lions from China" or "Guardian lions of the Reign” are a typical architectural ornament of Chinese tradition. Usually made of stone, they are also known as "stone lions" or "Shishi“. In Europe they are also called “Lion Dogs” or “Foo Dogs”/”Fu Dogs”. It is a decorative style born in the Chinese Buddhism with an apotropaic intent: the lions (very stylized in shape) were supposed to protect the building they were defending both from harmful spiritual influences and from ill-intentioned people.

Originally created therefore to protect the Imperial Palaces, a "pocket version" was then thought of: smaller works placed inside the house to ward off evil spirits.

Belle misure, meravigliose le decorazioni sul supporto in porcellana policroma, piccole sbocconcellature sulla porcellana, Cane Foo scolpito in legno con piccole mancanze, ma in patina e con tracce di vecchia laccatura.

For collectors.

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