A RARE PAIR OF TERRACOTTA LIONS, TANG DYNASTY
China, 618-907. Pottery with remainders of original cold painting. Each beast seated, with a squat, powerful body, large paws, a massive head and ferocious jaws biting the rear leg, all raised on a rockwork plinth.

Provenance: A Swedish private collection, acquired in the early 20th century.
Condition: Superb condition and extremely rare to find in this magnificent state of preservation. General surface wear, degradation and nibbling to extremities, losses to pigments. Each with a drill hole to underside foot, for the TL test sample. One lion with a triangular segment neatly cut out of its rear, measuring 1.5 cm wide.
Scientific Testing: The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C118e22 dated 22 May 2018, is consistent with the dating of the right lion. The result of C-Link Research & Development Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.519FD47 dated 28 April 2017, is consistent with the dating of the left lion. Both original documents are accompanying this lot. (4)

Weight: 11.5 kilograms each
Dimensions: Height 38 cm each

This pair of a seated lions is modelled in a rare stance, because the majority of Tang ceramic lions are seated squarely on their hind legs with both forelegs straight and head facing forward, as in the example excavated in 1958 from a tomb in Hebei province, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 159, no. 545. The present pair is seated with one hind leg raised and the head turned to bite it, as in the example excavated in 1955 from a tomb at Xi’an, ibid., no. 546. Another lion in a related pose, although the hind paw has not quite reached the head, is in the Seikado Museum, Tokyo, and illustrated by Masahiko Sato and Gakuji Hasebe (eds.) in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 87, no. 67. Interestingly, another lion - this one biting its leg - in the Seikado Museum, ibid. p. 86, no. 66, is seated on a rocky stand modelled in a related fashion to the present examples, with oblique grooves around the sides. Both the Seikado Museum lions share with the present creatures a rope-like tail curled around the flank under the raised leg. A further somewhat less elaborate figure of a lion scratching its head, was excavated in 1955 in Xian, and is now in the National Museum of History in Beijing illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji - Gongyi meishu bian 2 taoci (zhong), Shanghai, 1988, p. 28 and 68, no. 77.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a single, smaller and closely related lion, bearing a sancai glaze, in Christies New York on September 18th, 2003, in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, lot 217.

唐代一對罕見赤陶獅子
中國，618-907。 陶獅上有原始冷繪餘留。獅子呈坐姿，正舔舐著一隻後腿。活潑可愛。

來源：瑞典私人收藏，購於二十世紀初。
品相：品相極好，這樣的保存狀態極其罕見。一般的表面磨損，有些磕損，脚下有鑽孔，用於熱釋光測試。一隻獅子尾部附近有寬1,5厘米的三角形孔。

科學檢測報告: 牛津熱釋光檢測研究所檢測號C118e22，2018年5月22日的檢測報告可以證實右邊的獅子的年代。C-Link Research & Development Ltd.熱釋光檢測研究所檢測號519FD47，2017年4月28日的檢測報告可以證實左邊的獅子的年代。隨附檢測報告。

重量：各重11.5 公斤
尺寸：各高38 厘米