Guardian Lion

CultureChinese

Date510-540 C.E.

MediumLimestone

DimensionsOverall: 20 3/4 × 8 1/2 × 23 inches (52.71 × 21.59 × 58.42 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number40-31/1

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionThe object is a limestone block carved with a sitting lion figure at the front of the block with the rest of the block being uncarved except for a step behind the lion. There is a shallow hole carved into the top step behind the lion figure. The lion is decorated with incised lines to represent the mane, fur, and whiskers.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Art in Asia and the West, San Francisco Museum of Art, October 28 – December 1, 1957.

Exhibition of Chinese Rubbings, University of Iowa, Iowa City, February 13 - March 17, 1966.

Provenance

Dr. Otto Burchard;

Purchased from Dr. Otto Burchard by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1940.

Published References

Art in Asia And the West: an Exhibition to Illustrate Varied Aspects of Asian Traditions and Their Importance for Art in the West: Honoring the 6th National Conference of the United States National Commission for Unesco. October 28-December 1, 1957, cat. no. 14c (San Francisco the Museum, 1957), 32 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 30 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 304 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 314, 97 (repro.).

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