Featured Chinese foo dogs

I am hoping someone can help
Me identify these foo dogs to what time period they are from. I have pics of the stamp on the bottom.

 

i've never seen a foo dog like that before......

 

Magnificent. Now that's my kind of guard dogs. I wouldn't hesitate to go crazy at auction trying to buy them and I really wouldn't care who made them!
Cheers
Stephen

 

Im always leery whenever I see that even staining on Chinese ceramics. I think they are newish,but they are very decorative nonetheless.

 

I like them because they match my fish

 

I agree with Johnny. The bottoms have that look of new trying to look old. There is something about the figurines themselves, the way they look, that also says new to me.

If you like them and are buying them for yourself versus resale, pay whatever amount you are comfortable with, but IMHO, I wouldn't buy them for resale.

 

LOVE the fish!

 

From what I am finding they are Chinese.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/465630048956782096/

Don't get excited when you see the price - These are new items being sold from China. Often times the prices are overly inflated.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/fre...Kylin-Beast-Statue-Pair-0217/32823266377.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/fre...Lion-Kylin-Beast-Statue-Pair/32825311830.html

 

Yes, Chinese, recent, and extremely cute.
As msgood said, the bottoms show they are new. Dirt is added to suggest age, it usually comes off easily.

 

Hi,
I am concerned about what I was told about Foo Dogs(lions). I was told that the male has a ball under his feet and a female has a puppy under hers. If they have the same thing under their feet they are not a pair but two of the same. Any comments, I am never too old to learn.
greg

 

Thank you that is the best info I have received on these. Have a nice day.

 

They look more like Foo Frogs! Those are crazy lookin

 

Hi Greg - I borrowed the following from a website called goodlucksymbols.com

The male Foo dog can be recognized as the one resting his paw on the ball which may represent the world. The male is Yang. He protects everything outside. He is protector of the building itself. He is power and supremacy.

The female Foo dog is shown with one paw on a cub. She protects everything inside the home or house. The female is the one who also protects the people who reside or work in the house. She is the Yin. She represents compassion and support.

I think, though, that the traditional representations have broken down a bit over the years. I had a pair of Foo Dogs that were carved from wood and were mirror images. Both had balls under their paws. For years they resided under my coffee table. They were crudely done but I liked them. Unfortunately, I had a male schnauzer who thought they made the perfect substitute for a fire hydrant. I didn't realize right away what was going on. Dog urine and wood don't mix very well and the finish on the wood spotted. I thought about refinishing them but put them in the garage for a couple of years and ran them through auction at some point. As I remember they did very well.
Don

 

Hi Dan,
I learned about the Foo dogs (lions) from a very highly regarded Chinese expert at the Met. She became a very close friend and taught me so much about Chinese art. She died several years ago and I miss her a lot. I remember we went through a display of Chinese china that was imported in the 1970s. We (she) found several pieces of 200 year old china mixed in the huge batch. I sold five of the pieces enough to pay off my mortgage. I kept three pieces that I loved too much to sell.
I guess they will end up in the trash when I'm gone.
greg

 

How did you end up meeting and becoming friends with a Chinese expert Greg? That sounds like a dream!

 

Hi,
I was volunteering at the Met and started to talk to her. I was asking questions and we just hit it off. She was sooooo stern in the beginning, I was scared to death of her as was everyone else. I was cleaning some old ceramic pieces and asked her if it was okay to use wax on the spot that I did not want to clean as protection. She asked me why I would want to do that. I replied that I was not sure if it was glazed and might have been an old repair. Then she showed me what to use and the guy who was teaching me was so amazed when I gave him the piece i was cleaning. He asked where did I learn to do that. When I explained that Madame showed me. He was shocked, she did not even talk to him for many years.
greg

 

Sounds like a great match to learn from an expert, what department did you volunteer in. Last question, honest haha xD

 

Hi Nathan,
Ceramics of course. I wanted to work in the silver selection but that was filled.
I loved my time in Manhattan. I do not think I had more than 3 hours of sleep at anytime the 7 years I lived there. God to be young again.
greg

 

The marking reads "仿古"(means archaistic). It was using stamp carving method(hard to read).

 

I appreciate your help. I don’t think they are to old do. Do you know anything about this possibly?