Description

Antique Japanese ranma depicting a pair of tigers on a stones edge with crashing waters below. Bmaboo can be seen in carved details behind the tigers. Handcarved carved from solid Hinoki (Japanese cypress).

In Japanese art and architecture, the tiger is a powerful symbol of strength, protection, and authority. Although tigers are not native to Japan, they entered the cultural imagination through Chinese and Korean influence and became one of the most revered mythic animals in East Asian visual culture.

Within architectural carvings such as ranma, tigers were believed to serve an apotropaic function—acting as spiritual guardians that ward off evil, illness, and misfortune. Their placement above doorways symbolically protected the threshold, guarding the household or temple from unseen forces.

Age: Early 20th century

Dimensions: 70″ long x 18″high x 3″ thick