At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, many objects from China became part ofmuseum collections in the West. One of these objects is a monumental glazed ceramic sculpture from ShanxiProvince in China, that since the beginning of the 20th century has been part of the East Asian collection at theRöhsska Museum of Design and Craft in Sweden. Very little is known about this sculpture, even though it’s morethan two metres tall and covered in brightly coloured glazes and therefore difficult to ignore. Finding out moreabout the sculpture means taking a closer look at where it came from, what has happened during the time that ithas been a part of a museum collection and what can be learned today. It is also important to consider how museumstraditionally have worked with objects from other cultures than their own and the current attitudes to these objects.The sculpture is most likely a liuli 琉璃 guardian lion, but it has been called many different things over the past100 years as a museum object.