A Few Foos

The use of asian pagodas and ceramic foo dogs has been running rampant in this past year. I, too, have been hooked by their use, especially in the Hollywood Regency craze of late. This image from Domino Magazine shows the apartment of Nick Olsen (assistant to Miles Redd!). I was recently lucky enough to run across a pair of foo dogs that match the pair on Nick's sofa back table:

I picked up a pair of little foo dogs at a local neighborhood flea market a couple of weeks ago, and have been coming across a few more in the last few days, so I thought I would share!

I picked this pair up for $5.00! His partner had a bit of a chip, but for pure decoration, lot's of fun.

This Foo can be found at Turquoise LA. I saw this while perusing the Turquoise LA blog.

This pair are on special from Nieman Marcus for $109.00

These were on Ebay, latest bid $8.99. Very cute!

1st Dibs has quite a few foos too! The lamps are from Mondo Cane ($5,800.00). The pair of Italian ceramic dogs is from Capitol ($6,500.00) , and the 2ft. marble dog is from Antiquario .

Foo Dogs, or Fu Dogs ( Fu, the Chinese word for happiness, luck, or prosperity) are traditionally known as the protectors of palaces, tombs and homes of the wealthy and powerful of Imperial China. From the Han Dynasty of 206BC-229AD until the end of the empire in 1911 Foo Dogs, or Imperial Guard Lions stood guard. In more modern times the materials and means of production have made the dogs available to the more common public.

I find it fascinating that the dogs are created mostly in pairs, one male, one female, each with it's paw on a different symbol. The male has his right paw on a globe which represents the "feeling of the pulse of the earth", while the female has her left paw on a pup or cub. More information on Wikipedia.