Tiger Statue Dragon Suzaku

The two characters on the plaque at the front of this statue read 白虎, Bai Hu, the White Tiger. Above them stands the tiger as Chinese temple art imagines it: a powerful beast with a mane of curling cloud scrolls, a tail rising like a plume of flame and an open, snarling mouth, its paws planted on gold ingots and swirling clouds. The whole figure rests on an eight-sided base.

The White Tiger of the West

In Chinese tradition, the White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols that guard the directions of the sky, alongside the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise. It watches over the West and is linked to autumn and to the element metal. The groups of solid and broken bars around the base recall the eight trigrams, a motif often seen on feng shui objects, and our article on whether we can keep a tiger statue at home covers the beliefs about where such a figure belongs. Other guardians and wild cats stand in our tiger statue collection.

Sizes and material

Three sizes are offered: Small at 14x11x15 cm, Medium at 17x13x18 cm and Large at 23x20x25 cm. The statue is made of bronze with a vintage, slightly worn finish, and the mane, the claws and the plated chest are sculpted in fine detail.