Antique c.1920's/30's Pair of Monumental Burmese Carved Wood Gilt Temple Guardian Lions / Foo Dogs

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Description

These monumental Burmese Chinthe, the mythological lion-guardians traditionally placed at temple entrances, are exceptional in scale and in the density … Read more These monumental Burmese Chinthe, the mythological lion-guardians traditionally placed at temple entrances, are exceptional in scale and in the density of their surface carving. Every inch of the hand-carved wood bodies is worked with scrolling lacquer relief, set with colored glass inlay in blue, teal, and gold, and finished in gilt over polychrome gesso, a construction technique closely associated with Burmese religious art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Each figure measures 52" tall, 18" wide by 37" deep.

Condition is consistent with age and their probable history of outdoor or semi-outdoor temple use. There is extensive loss to the gesso and lacquer surfaces throughout, with the pink ground layer exposed across significant areas of both figures. Some acceptable structural wood cracking is present on at least one figure, but they stand properly and are sturdy. Glass inlay elements show losses in several settings. The underlying carving is intact and the wood structure appears sound. There is some minor gesso loss when moving them due to their fragility and age, but they will be completely shrink wrapped prior to pickup to minimize this. Please see all available photographs and consider them as part of the item description. See less