Lot 231. A rare inscribed 'Xing' figure of a lion, 10th century, 18cm., 7 1/8 in. Estimate 800 — 1,200 GBP. Lot sold 36,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the beast powerfully modelled crouching on all fours on a rectangular pedestal, the ferocious head turned sharply to the right with bulging eyes and jaw open in full snarl, wearing a saddle cloth and harness hung with pendent bells, covered overall with an ivory-white glaze, the pedesta carved around the sides to simulate rockwork and inscribed by the base with the single character shi.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 357.

The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 70.

Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 560.