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Hello, if anyone could help to identify the potential age and style of this piece it would be much appreciated.

From research it appears to be a Han style foo dog with a Yuan Yaozhou ware style glazing technique but I am not certain. It's also fairly heavy for a piece of its size and material, at just over 2 pounds. Measures at about 8" tall by 5" width.

I am assuming this is a vintage or early Republic era piece but I cannot be certain. There also appears to be a small round impressed mark of some kind at the foot of the piece, but it is difficult to make out.

Any help or information would be much appreciated, thank you!

I've seen this type of Buddhistic Lion or "Foo Dog" referred to as Chinese Ming-style and Nanking-style, among other names. An open base like this signifies the piece was slip-cast, a technique the Chinese started using in the early 20th century. The bottom is fairly clean, which suggests to me the piece may be no older than late 20th century, a judgment also influenced by the small circular mark, which coincides more with late 20th century practices than preceding ones, in my opinion.

If you can get a better photo of the mark, perhaps someone might recognize it and help to refine the date of manufacture.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you very much for the reply. I've attached a close-up photo of the mark; unfortunately it is still difficult to discern, but perhaps someone will recognize it.

Thanks for trying, but still too indistinct for me.

Bill H.

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