Crouching Lion
Posted by: 
Touchstone
N 36° 37.137 W 121° 54.630
10S E 597422 N 4053155
This crouching lion looms over the main road into and out of the downtown section of Pacific Grove, California. It looks as if it's ready to pounce on the next car that gets too close.
Waymark Code: WM1DQ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/12/2005
Views: 73
I've driven by this statue many times, but have never bothered to find out the history of it until now. I'm glad I did.
This sculpture was made by a local resident, Clark Ashton Smith. A writer by trade, Mr. Ashton Smith also painted and sculpted for a living. His literary career was moderately successful, being proclaimed as the "Keats of the Pacific Coast" for his romantic poetry, and later one of the masters of modern supernatural fiction, Smith was also a stone carver. His former home at 117 9th Street (at Lighthouse Avenue) boasts a sample of his stone-cutting genius.