E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lion’s Claws.
Commonly used as ornaments to the legs of furniture, as tables, chairs, etc.; emblematical of strength and stability. The Greeks and Romans employed, for the same purpose, the hoofs of oxen.
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“Les soutiens des tables et des trépieds [in Greece and Rome] se terminaient souvent en forme de piedes de bœuf, pour exprimer la force et la stabilité.”—Noel: Dictionnaire de la Fable, vol. i. p. 237, col. 2.
