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To be perfectly appropriate this should be an image of a pair of lions manipulated to sit this close together. However this handsome fella is the male of a doorway guarding pair from "Wide and Narrow Alleys" in Chengdu. This tradition in China originates in the Han Dynasty (200 bc to 200 ad) and has very particular patterns. Next time you see a pair, most "chinatowns" in the West have them and you'll seem in plenty of movies, notice that the one on your right has his foot on a ball and the one on your left has her foot on a playful cub. The female guards the people inside and the male guards the actual structure. Due to my ignorance when I took this shot, I didn't shoot the pair, only the male. Fortunately the background suited itself to this kind of mirroring. I put my hand in this fella's mouth because I had a suspicion, which was confirmed, that the ball in his mouth was loose, carved to roll in his mouth, and that was the case. There is carving everywhere in China and I loved it. Other images will be shared further illustrating this cultural theme. Apparently the style of the lions changed from Dynasty to Dynasty which is partly why you see such a wide variety of appearances these days.
Enjoy.
Mikel.