This is a ceramic sculpture from Munktiki's Yakimon line. Shishi is a two-headed guardian lion. Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lions, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi (Chinese: 獅; pinyin: shī; literally "lion"), and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in pre-modern China. Statues of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits. This sculpture comes with two smaller scaled schoolboy human summoners/pals, to whom Shishi is the protector. This piece required eight separate molds to create. Made in a variety of glaze colors.