1997.139.2 Snow Lion

This snarling, ferocious guardian lion, one of a pair, originally stood watch over the entrance to a Buddhist temple in Nepal [1997.139.1]. The male lion was on the right and the female on the left.  The lions are a fine example of  the masterly bronze casting employed by the Newar people in the valley of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Such ferocious guardian images are common in Buddhist art from the Himalayas to China, where they are believed to protect dharma, the Buddhist teaching and law. The lions are  inscribed with a date that translates to 1815.

Nepal: TGN: 1000132

Kathmandu Valley: AAT: 7032812

casting (process): AAT: 300053104

bronze: AAT: 300010957

nineteenth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404513

Buddhism : AAT: 300073738

dharma: AAT: 300264384

guardian: DMA

lions (animals/panthera leo species): AAT: 300310388

sculpture: AAT: 300047090

Tantrism: AAT: 300143658

Temples: AAT: 300007595

1997: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley through the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation, purchased at auction, "Indian and Southeast Asian Art," Sotheby's, New York, September 24, 1997, lot 15, as "A pair of massive Nepalese bronze guardian lions" [1] 

The main source for this provenance is the letter from Jay Gates of the Dallas Museum of Art to David Owsley, dated December 12, 1997, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted. 

[1] For details on the auction, see the invoice from Sotheby's to the Dallas Museum of Art, dated September 24, 1997, copy in object file. 

Apply to objects where number equals 1997.139.2