Need help identifying a tiger statue. Chinese?

Hi all,

I recently acquired this guy at an estate sale and i'm having a really hard time identifying him. The base color of the pottery material is a faded brown / tan. It is hand painted and the tiger appears to be hollow all the way through and when I look down his throat I can see what appear to be tool marks. The tiger seems to be glazed although it isn't high gloss, more of a dull shine. His tongue has no glaze on it.
There is an oval impressed mark with characters on the base beside a hand painted mark in red.

Some stats:

He measures 11.5" tall and 9.5" long.
Weight is just over 7 lbs

Any information that you guys could give me would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

No clue but I'd guess Chinese too and I like him!

 

*Bump* Anyone have any information on this guy? Thanks KingofThings, I like him too!

 

I suggest you try him in Antique Discussion too.
That may help if no one's commenting here and say why you've done so.