Over the grayish white porcelain and blue-tinged glaze, the figure is profusely painted in overglaze enamels of the kakiemon palette: red, blue, turquoise, aubergine and black while the yellow is notably omitted. The animal is seated in an alert posture, its tail raised, on a studded elliptical drum-shaped base with karakusascrolls. its face resembles that of a tiger. There is an impression of gauze fabric on the underglaze base.
Two kakiemon figures of shishi identical to the one presented here are in the collection of Burghley House, Lincolnshire, inventoried in 1688. They are published by John Ayers and Oliver Impey in Porcelain for palaces.
Three other identical figures are in the collection of the Musée d’Ennery in Paris.
Shishi stands guard outside the gates of Japanese shrines and Buddhist temples, although temples are more often guarded by two Nio Protectors.
The Japanese word for lion is shishi, which derives from the Chinese word shizi. This animal, which was not indigenous to China or Japan, entered both countries through the dissemination of the Buddhist faith. In Indian Buddhism, the lion had long been a symbol for royalty and power.
Kakiemon shishi usually have blue and yellow spotted coats and a ball under the paw, making the ornamentation of the present example quite rare and possibly an early version of the well-known larger figures.
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