Asian Bronze Guardian Lion Sculpture, Nepal, 19th century

About the Item

Antique Asian bronze guardian lion Lion Sculpture, Nepal 19th Century. A bronze figure with traces of polychromy depicting a temple guardian lion with an open mouth, long mane and a defensive posture on its four outstretched legs. The tail is curled over the back and the body is full of curls in the form of protuberances and decorative spirals. Antique bronze Nepalese temple guardian style lion sculpture, richly ornamented and masterfully sculpted with patinated gilt brass, the ferocious mythical beast in an aggressive ready to charge stance. Measures: 5.5: W x 4.75 H x 3 D Inches Antique condition with typical wear and appropriate patina. From the Art collection of Marian and John Scott. Acquisition date: 1981. Evaluation date records: 1982. Purchased from the amazing private collection of Mark Lissauer who spent his life collecting niche ethnographic pieces. About Mark Lissauer: Mark Lissauer spent forty years travelling abroad for months at a time collecting ethnographic artefacts primarily from New Guinea and the islands of the West Pacific, and from Asia and Himalayan countries. Fluent in five languages and having in the course of business travelled to more than forty countries, Mark is well-known to museums and art-collectors around the world for his long career and his interesting and diverse collection of rare ethnographic material. Mark knows the origin and symbolism of each piece. Through extensive research and more than ninety trips around the globe, Mark familiarised himself with the traditions of the various cultures he visited in order to understand the meaning of each object to its region and tribe. His home has a specialist library and several rooms are filled with tribal carvings, textiles and ethnographica. He acquired his first tribal piece in 1948 during a business trip to Milne Bay, New Guinea, and has since documented the acquisition of some 35,000 items. Several thousands of these have been sold to important private collections and museums worldwide, including the Rockefeller Museum, the British Museum and the Musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, now incorporated into the Louvre Museum. Estimator certificate of authenticity by Wayne Heathcote Tribal Art Dealer and Expert. Heathcote has a flash gallery in Brussels, where much of the tribal art business is centred, and is an expert at Sotheby's tribal art sale, one of two it holds each year in New York. Many of the pieces in the sale also bore his provenance, proudly stated by vendors in the catalogue.

Dimensions:

Height: 4.75 in (12.07 cm)Width: 5.5 in (13.97 cm)Depth: 3.25 in (8.26 cm)

Style:

Tibetan (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Brass,Bronze,Cast,Hand-Crafted

Place of Origin:

Nepal

Period:

19th Century

Date of Manufacture:

1880