石獅子：三川殿前の鎮殿一対

Show the pair of guardian lions seated at the front steps of a Taiwanese temple. Carve both from grey-white granite, about 1.2 metres tall on square carved plinths, in the Minnan manner — rounder, flatter-faced and more good-humoured than the fierce northern type, with broad grinning mouths, bulging eyes and tightly curled manes. Place the male on one side with a paw on a pierced ball carved loose within its own cage of stone, and the female opposite with a cub tumbling beneath her paw. Show both wearing carved collars with bells and tasselled ribbons. Detail the granite with visible tool marks in the recesses and smooth polished patches on the heads and paws where worshippers have touched them for luck, the stone there noticeably darker and glossier. Include the stone steps, a carved plinth band and the temple threshold behind. Light with bright morning sun from the side. Photorealistic, warm grey granite, worn and characterful, eye-level view of one lion with its pair behind.