A large famille verte Buddhist lion and cub

Kangxi period, 1662–1722
China

height: 53.5 cm

The lion is not indigenous to China, but in the wake of Buddhism the animal became a symbol of awe-inspiring ferocity and strength – revered as the king of the animals and the companion, protector and mount of holy beings; thus the character wang (king) is painted onto the forehead. Models are used in China as guardians of buildings in their role as defender of the law and protector of sacred monuments, and those that found their way to Europe, via the export trade, served as grand and exotic decoration.

Seated square upon a rectangular high base, the biscuit glazed lion’s head is turned to the right with the front right leg raised to accommodate her cub, who looks directly up at the mother. The lioness is brilliantly enamelled in green with an aubergine mane; the open mouth, tongue and the collar are left unglazed, with traces of the red cold pigment that would have decorated these parts, and the cub is predominantly a light yellow. The base front panel is pierced by an elaborate lingzhi shaped cut out to the centre; this is flanked by a dragon on either side amongst clouds, and centred at the bottom by a flaming pearl – representative of the divine power of cosmic regeneration, as well as the emblem of the Emperor. The green panel on the reverse shows two phoenix birds amongst clouds, either side of a pierced circle; as counterpart of the dragon and the emblem of the Empress – the phoenix’s appearance augurs peace to the land – and is associated with warmth, abundant harvest, prosperity, charity and beauty.

similar example
‘World Ceramics’, Hamlyn, 1981 – plate 13 illustrates a glazed biscuit porcelain lion and cub from the collection of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.