Add to ORKGThis object is a carved ivory seal which was never completed by the artist who started it. The top consists of a Chinese Dog of Fo, or Fo-dog. They are creatures which are based on lions and they came to China from India with the first Buddhists, in the first Millennium. Lions are not native to the region. This creature's leonine quality is evident in the finely carved details of the mane, scales, tail and face. Since the stamp was made of ivory it probably was not intended for official court use; in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, all imperial seals were made of gold, jade, or silver. Ivory seals would have been used only for personal and less formal occasions. The stamp itself is long and slender. The characters are not yet deciphered. Th...