Posted By: Trance
Posted Date: Sep 23, 2008 (11:32 AM)
I have more information that may help.
I purchased this at a corporate auction where I worked at a startup telecommunications firm at the time in 1989. We were moving to a new office complex, and the CEO who had his office in an asian motiff had this, along with a number of other items. (There was no matching paired item to this.) He and the company offered all the items of the old office decor up to the employees at the time through an internal office auction. If there was anything in the office you wanted that wasn't destined or needed to be moved to the new office complex, you simply had to offer up a blind bid. This took place in 1989.
I liked the item, always had an interest in asian art, and had no real idea what it was, what it was worth, etc -- I thought it was a dragon and her baby -- just wanted to be part of the auction that everyone was having fun with at the time. I later found out that it was considered a Foo Dog or Lion which was typically placed near the front door of a house to scare away evil spirits. That's where I've had it ever since as well.
After I won this item, the girl from accounting eagerly showed me the G/L asset listing for it. It had been purchased in 1983 for an amount I was very surprised at. She said she hadn't bid on it because she was interested in the oriental style furniture offered up at the same time, which she did win. So I do know the purchase price that was paid for this in 1983 for this item. Of course, that doesn't mean it was really worth that much then ... or now.
It's not wood, and it doesn't appear to be poured -- at least to me. As I mentioned it is very dense and weighs about 12 pounds. It is a stone type material. There are carving marks on it, most noticably in the recesses under the body, behind the ball, in the back of the mouths, etc. The teeth of the larger lion are carved so sharply that I don't think could have been accomplished via a poured method -- but this is just all my opinion.
I've attached a few more up close photos, if it helps. (I can't post a very detailed fine photo due to the 100k limit, but maybe these help.)
Thanks again for all the comments!
Trance
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