Male and female pairs of shishi [a mythical leonine creature] guard the approaches to the holy enclosures of Shinto shrines. They are usually known as komainu [literally ‘dogs of Koma’ - Koma meaning Kokuryo, one of the three countries of ancient Korea]. The lion not being indigenous to Asia, the concept of the shishi was probably originally introduced to Japan through China and Korea via India from the Middle East. They are found in Shinto shrines from the late Heian period onwards standing to the left and right of a pathway or entrance. That on the right has an open mouth, and that on the left has a closed mouth said to signify the universal sounds ‘ah’ and ‘um’ – the beginning and the end. Sometimes early examples have a single horn as with this pair.

Wood sculpture of komainu in Japan are found as early as the Heian period, but the finest examples are of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) characterized by broad and muscular upper bodies with firm forelegs quite vertical as if standing to attention like guardsmen. Later pieces show more variation and while retaining much of the Kamakura tradition lose the formality of Kamakura work, and are frequently rich in facial expression like this lively pair, with something of an air of the asobi which is the theme of this sale. The figures sit in light-hearted yet stern vigil still guarding the approach to a shrine from which they are far away in both distance and time.

See a Muromachi period example in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, acc. no. 2006.71.1.