Lot 2872. A rare pair of sancai-glazed pottery lions, Tang Dynasty (618-907); The larger: 5. 3/8 in. (13.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 375,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

Each lion is seated on a waisted rectangular plinth in an alert posture, with its front legs braced below the strong muscular chest, the face detailed with a fierce expression and bulging eyes, the mouth agape with its sharp fangs exposed. The mane is finely detailed with curling tresses and the body covered with a golden-brown glaze highlighted with splashes of green and straw.

Provenance: An English private collection, acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Note: The powerful, muscular body and the ferocious expression of the present pair of lions are hallmarks of Tang sculptural vitality and naturalism. It is, however, very rare to find a pair of lions of such small size. They are closely related to a crouching sancai lion which is slightly larger in size (19.2 cm high), illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art – Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 100. Compare also to another green-glazed seated lion (26.5 cm. high) with an almost identical powerful depiction of the muscular chest, in the collection of the British Museum, London and illustrated in The World’s Great Collections – Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 5: The British Museum, London, New York and San Francisco, 1981, no. 6.