Pair of Lions

Seated lions on plinths, for a gateway or garden stair, the mane worked in regular curls and the forepaw advanced over the edge of the block.

The guardian lion is among the oldest and most persistent motifs of Portuguese stonework, and passed to the estates of the Minho and the great houses of Bahia with the same function: to mark the entrance. Carved as a pair, they always look in opposite directions — to separate them is to undo half the work.