Lion Bookend Vintage or Reproduction??

Hi there, I got this lion at a thrift store a while back. I have tried to find another like it online, but no luck. Do you think it's vintage or newer? I have just the one and it weighs a bit over 5 pounds. The lion sounds hollow, looks like the base was gold at one time and painted black as there is some black on the lion. It is about 14" in length and 5" wide. Thanks for any help!

 

Peel back a corner of that pad and see what it looks like . And post a pic.

 

Check Canova lion bookends. Think this is one of the pair, which are in 2 slightly different poses.

 

Good idea. The black pad is very sticky. It looks like it was sprayed with a glue, since the center of the felt is sticky also.

 

Thank you for the suggestion, but I just don't see anything like it from the ones I looked at.

 

Hmmm. Is that plaster,or resin ?

 

Yours looks like a less detailed version of the vigilant lion. But maybe all lions look pretty much alike when in this position.

 

It feels like a rough plastic.

 

I’d think it was a reproduction Antonio Canova. It’s common for famous iconic bronzes to become mass produced with simpler mounds. Still a bargain I assume if from a thrift store. Cool purchase.

Anybody who loves lions in sculpture should look for renditions of the Lion of Lucerne, a beautiful work if you haven’t seen it already. Animal symbolism in one of its noblest and most impressive forms.

 

OMG, you just asked to peel off its underware.....

 

I have never seen the Lion of Lucerne monument, really stunning. Thank you for mentioning that and for your other thoughts.

 

Just checking his litter box.