Featured Oriental pottery dog (?dragon)

This poor chap was used by my great grandmother as a doorstop and paperweight in a busy office and he suffered badly over the years...

I'm not at all sure of his history, she said her much older brother brought him back from his travels to the Far East and that would have been in around 1910/1920.

I've looked online and can't find any exactly like this with the rear legs raised. I think he may have had an additional wing at some point, there are a lot of badly repaired cracks/breakages and half an ear is missing. I'm not even sure whether he represents a dog or a dragon...

I would love to know, if anyone has a clue, exactly what he is, his age, etc We are thinking of having some proper rest oration work on him rather than selling him as I'm assuming he has no real monetary value but we value him as family history.

 

A lion. A Chinese Fu/Foo lion, to be precise. Foo lions are often regarded as dogs in the West, but they are mythical lions.

A wonderful piece, it brings a smile to my face. It could have been made in Shiwan, but others may have to correct me on that. He was probably new when your relative bought him 1910-20.
The shape is certainly unusual, he just jumped to catch the brocade ball, I think. The brocade ball is a symbol of the pearl of wisdom.
I have seen jumping Foo lions in sketches and paintings, but never in ceramics.

To have him by a door is good, they often guard entrances. To use him as a doorstop is clearly a bad idea, but that is in the past.
If perfect he would have been quite valuable, but is he is, he is still special and a delight to see.

 

Oh that's lovely, thanks so much for that. He is very much loved. We didn't quite get into fighting over him but I think we all wanted him. He'll be totally cherished. And those dates really seem to fit with the info we have.

He's always been referred to as "The Ugly"!

 

Poor Foo, ugly but delightful.

 

He's been the Family Mascot for 2 or 3 generations-I'd do him the honor of correctly restoring him,although all hardworking guardian daemons are bound to have a few battle scars.

 

How big is he? With his legs like that, he looks like he could be a utilitarian object of some sort and not just an ornament of beauty.

 

This is him alongside a mug. I would say he's about a foot tall.

 

He's a beauty,unfortunately looks like one of the ancestors used him in a baseball game.

 

I think he's an old hand built ceramic doorstop with his feet up like that.
I'd probably use him as a book end in a tall shelf. He's very cool indeed!!
His "damages" may not be worth paying the cost of a professional restoration.

 

His pose seems to me at least,quite unique.