Featured Seen at Thrift-Asian old/new ?

Saw this big & heavy 3 1/2 ft by 2 ft wood plaque at a thrift yesterday.It's got a Chinese foo dog motif, but Goog translate said it was Japanese ideograms.
Translates as 'Sho Giyokurin' or 'Shogyokurin'-AI can't find a definitive meaning for it.
The piece (IMHO) has a 60's-70's feel to it as opposed to an antique temple plaque or kanban.
Any opinions regarding actual age (& translation tips) ?
PS-Aint' bought (200 smackers !), but always like to run it by educated trusted eyeballs.

 

be interested to find out as well chum. haven't seen one alike before. Going on general look i would think earlier than 60/70s(possibly the black has been touched up)

would guess at it being in the antique zone

 

Love to find out too Chas-age,purpose.If it was an antique temple or ancestor plaque it'd be great.Not sure what kind of signage it might be- wonder if the writing means anything.
Thanks much for the input mate !
PS-Really good point about the black poss being repainted,seems something a twit reseller/importer might do.This stuffs always a challenge.

 

When I use Google Lens on the text, it leaves out the 3rd character.
I think it's 書玉吐麟, and that gives 'Shogyoku Torin' as translation, but, in the scroll in the middle, you only see the first 2 characters, so the 4 characters might be 2 separate parts.
書玉 吐麟 gives 'Book Ball Torin' as translation, and for just the first 2 characters, Google translates this to 'Calligraphy ball', and that should be something like this

For Torin, I can only find Torin-in, one of the sub-temples of Myoshinji Temple.
But, as this is based on Google Translate, it might be completely wrong.

 

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5417961:
The qilin issuing a jade book from its mouth recalls the dream that Confucious' mother had just before he was born. She dreamt that a qilin came to her door with a jade book in its mouth. The phrase lin tu yushu (qilin issuing a jade book) is used as a wish for the birth of an illustrous male child, as the qilin is believed to only appear before the birth of a sage.

 

When I 'lensed' it, got:

AI Overview

The image shows a four-character mark, "書玉生麟" (Shū Yù Shēng Lín), which translates to "books and jade give birth to a qilin" or "a qilin is born from books and jade."This phrase is a traditional Chinese blessing for a son to be intelligent and successful.The mark is often found on Chinese bronze censers, which are vessels used for burning incense.

Very nice, but I don't see the same characters AI does. Does tie in with Marote's post above.

 

Thanks Marote & Bronwen- Seems the plaque motto may not be gibberish ? This piece is really heavy, and if authentic-perhaps graced a festival/religious site,school-who knows.
Old/oldish...new ?
Any ideas- @Any Jewelry @2manybooks @Debora @shamster ?

 

In the book of the last image I posted, the text is written as
麟吐
玉書
and that translates to
Qilin Spitting Jade Book

 

The 'dogs' have cloven hoofs, as does the qilin in Marote's illustration.

Do we think this is a signature?

 

That's the first character of the 4. The 2nd character is in the right part of the scroll

 

So it is. My bad. When I lens that character alone I get AI gibberish about its being a coin, the kind with a square hole in the middle. So is that the jade book?

 

I guess so
https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/qilin-delivering-a-child
"One popular tale tells of how his mother had an extraordinary dream during her pregnancy. In the dream, a qilin, a mythical creature, appeared at her home, accompanied by heavenly music. The qilin spat out a jade book inscribed with the words: “This child is the seed of a noble but born into an unfortunate time. He can only be a ‘king without a throne.’” The next day, Confucius was born, and thus giving rise to the legend of ‘Qilin delivering a child’. In Chinese folklore, the qilin has come to symbolise benevolence and good fortune, and families of virtuous standing often pray to the qilin for the blessing of offspring."

 

The Confucius connection's quite cool.Any guesses on where a large plaque like this might've hung ?

 

Hmm, there’s no exact matches on Chinese ebay but this is not giving me old vibes based on the composition and also how the characters are arranged. My guess would be post-1949. Below is a late Qing dynasty example to give you an idea, although styles differ dramatically in different areas of China.

 

Also for the price…as I am spoiled by the cheap carved panels all over where I live, it’s really hard to comment considering how hard to find a good one in your country… but a 200 usd tag doesn’t fall into ‘if you love it just get it’ category IMHO

 

really....

 

The front seems to be molded, rather than carved. I see particles in this photo that resemble a stone-like material (dare I say concrete?):

Ditto. I would rather wait for a more traditional, hand carved piece.

 

AHA ! Thank you so much all-the tale of the Qilin kinda reminds me of the tale of the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to announce he birth of Jesus (The Annunciation).
PS- Shammy & AJ, I suspected as much but needed a nudge. It was surprising to see such a thing in an American thrift store, but that price !
PSS-As I've explored more,there really are some mind-bogglingly beautiful hand carved Chinese panels out there.I suspect our old pal Google lens bloated the price tag on this piece.

1880's photograph of a San Francisco Chinese Apothecary by the superb I.W. Taber (look at that carving !!!)-

 

@shamster how much would those 2 carvings on Chinese Ebay (normally on average) cost ?
His images are real time machines.I wonder if that's 19th century Linoleum or Oilcloth on the floor ?
* @wlwhittier -See those 'levered choppers' on the table top on the right ?
The place looks a lot cleaner than most saloons of the era.
PS-I'd buy the original Taber cabinet card,but alas-$1200 is a smidge over my budget !

 

The seller is asking $330 for the pair, but based on my understanding of antique market in China he might accept a $150 offer Here’s a piece sold for $180 as better reference