Chinese Temple Pillar with Foo Lion Motif

A grinning rider on a grinning lion, both of them perched on a post.

This temple pillar with a foo lion motif comes from Hebei Province, China, and dates to the 18th century. It is stone. Guardian lions were generally placed at Chinese temple gates, bridges and balustrades to ward off harm. Here a seated figure in a peaked cap rides on the back of a crouching lion, his hands resting on its curly mane. The lion bares its teeth and grips the top of a squared shaft, tooled on its faces with fine diagonal lines. The pale stone is weathered overall. It is 10 inches wide and 45 high.

The lion has the teeth, but the rider has the smile.