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I have an elderly friend who has a set of red foo dogs, purchased I believe she said in the 50s.She is wanting to sell them to pay her property taxes, but I can find no local source to get an approximate value. She was told at one time they were valued at around $800.00
They are some type of stone, hand carved, hand painted, about 5" tall & 8" from front to back.
Is there anyone whom can give me some direction.

Hi. These are either ceramic or porcelain export figurines from Japan (c. 1930-1950's).

Maybe $100 retail, but these are fairly common. Try Craigslist or a local auction to sell them.

Good luck!

Thank You Tim,
You are correct, ceramic/porcelain, they are very thick but hollow, under the felt on the bottom is a hole in the ball, I assume to release pressure when fired. My concern was pricing accurately, but do not want her to under value as well.
Thanks again,
Fred

Your Japanese Buddhistic lions or "shishi" are made in a style generally associated with what was produced by kilns in the Kutani area from the mid-to-late 20th century. You'll find some similar examples on webmalls such as rubylane.com and trocadero.com, as well as in auction results on liveauctioneers.com (where you need to sign up to see the auction prices). All of these sites have search features. Useful keywords are "Kutani", "Lion", and "Shishi". The Japanese don't call these guys "foo dogs" like the Chinese.

Good luck,

Bill H.

Bill,
Thank you for the precise info & leads.
God Bless

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