Blue and White Chinese Bowl with Buddhist Lions and Peony

• Foo Dogs - Foo Dogs, also known as "Fo Dogs", "Fu Dogs", and " Buddhist lions" are the Chinese guardian lions that have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces and tombs, government offices, and the homes of the influential are believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits.
  
  They are a popular motif in decorative arts, especially ceramics and garden statuary, where they are depicted in pairs, comprising of a male resting his paw upon an embroidered ball, representing supremacy over the world, and a female restraining a playful cub, representing the nurturing properties of the female.
• Jiajing Mark - The Jiajing mark on Chinese porcelain refers to the reign mark of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521-1567) of the Ming Dynasty in China. The mark usually appears as six characters in underglaze blue on the base of the porcelain object and indicates that the object was made during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty.
  
  The Jiajing reign was a time of great artistic production and experimentation in China, particularly in the field of porcelain. The Jiajing Emperor was a patron of the arts and his reign saw the development of new decorative techniques and styles, including the use of underglaze blue decoration, which became a hallmark of Ming Dynasty porcelain.
  
  It should be noted that not all porcelain objects with a Jiajing mark are necessarily from the Jiajing period, as the mark has been copied and imitated by later generations of potters.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Chinese ceramics, decoration - blue and white, bowls and basins 706
• Chinese ceramics, dynasty mark or period - Shunzhi mark 12