Coiled Dragon Guardian Pillar Statue

A dragon that has not gone up yet.

That is what panlong means. Not a dragon in flight, but one still coiled on the earth, crouched and waiting, with everything it is going to be still ahead of it. The word carries the sense of curled, folded down, held in.

Which is why the old phrase for a place full of unrecognised talent is coiled dragons and crouching tigers. The power is there. It is simply not up in the air yet where anybody can see it.

Two postures, and they are the same idea at two moments. The horizontal lies flat along its block with its head down over the front edge, entirely at rest, and heavy enough to hold paper down on a desk. The vertical has started to move: front claws hooked over the top of an upright block, body rising behind it, tail still trailing down the side. It takes almost no surface area for its presence.

The finish changes the object more than the posture does. Plain grey sandstone reads as carved stone and nothing else, quiet enough for a working desk. The gold accent version is a dark green body with the horns, mane, spine and claws picked out in gold, and it is a considerably louder thing to own.

For a desk belonging to somebody who is not finished yet.

Where to place a coiled dragon statue

East or northwest by feng shui convention, which are the dragon's quarters. Practically: a desk, a shelf, an entryway, or beside a door.

Sandstone is porous, so keep it off anything that might stain and dust it with a dry brush rather than a wet cloth.