Chinese Lions - Chicago, IL - Lion Statues on Waymarking.com

The two lions near the green bushes are from 16th - 17th century China while the pair against the stone building are from the 20th century. They are on either side of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center on the University of Chicago campus. They are made of marble.

From the university’s website:

Two pairs of Chinese carved stone lions of the type popularly known as “foo dogs” stand guard outside the entrance to the Cochrane-Woods Art Center on the north side of campus, one pair placed at the north entrance and the other facing south into the courtyard shared with the Smart Museum of Art. Pairs of guardian lions have a long history in China. They began to appear frequently in the early medieval period introduced with Buddhist imagery from southern and central Asia, the lions signifying the nobility of the Buddha and his power in the spiritual world. As lions are not native to China, Chinese envisioned them as fantastic, supernatural creatures and fierce protectors against malevolent forces. From as early the seventh century they are depicted as massively broad-chested with thick curling manes. Frequently shown much larger than life-sized, they were included among the pairs of stone animals lining the spirit roads approaching royal tombs. Lions sculptures also served as guardians for temples and palaces. In the late imperial period, the Ming and Qing dynasties, they appear as a male and female pair, both shown with manes and mouths open in a roar. A monumental pair believed to be from the Ming period in “Forbidden City” palace in Beijing, each has one front paw raised, the female gently and rather playfully rests her paw on a small lion cub, and the male has an embroidered ball like one made for a pet. When these were noted by Western travelers and collectors in the nineteenth century, they were mistakenly called dogs.

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Physical Address: 5540 S. Greenwood Ave Chicago, IL United States 60637 Web Site: [Web Link]

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Take a photo of the lion.

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