I think it needs to be turned clockwise 90 degrees. Then it looks like a Japanese character. Not sure which one, though.

It means 'temple', in Japanese 'tera' pronounced like 'terra'....

Catrobmar is right. If you rotate the sculpture, it's the Chinese character "si", which by itself really doesn't have much meaning. Coupled with other characters, it becomes "temple" or "monastery."

Turn it clockwise 90° and you have a sinojapanese sign - a kanji - could be the one for "temple" ( tera, -dera)

http://www.kanjistep.com/en/online/kanji100/images/lesson04/tera_1.gif

oh my god, that is so funny you couldn't see it was a character. duh!

Snot, you are being your namesake.

this reminds me of a funny story. back in the day when the meatpacking district was really the meatpacking district, it was a hangout for downtown party girls (and guys) and trannies, basically. one woman who was kind of queen of the party scene had a favorite pair of tights with some japanese symbols on them.

early one morning, she's capping off a night of partying at the florent diner. a japanese couple, who were tourists, i believe, were sitting at the next table. they started talking and she stuck out one of her legs to show them her favorite tights.

the japanese woman looked somewhat aghast and embarrassed, while the man was laughing.

"you know what they say?" the man asked.

"something about love," the party queen answered.

"sort of," he said. "they say you're a dirty whore who likes it from lots of men."

then, as if to add insult to injury, he said, "the other leg, too."

so just a warning. if you're going to wear/hang foreign symbols, make sure you know what they mean first.

I think Deena knew which way to turn the character. If you look at the photo, the wood floor is on the right side, meaning the photo needs to be rotated, not the character. And I think she knew it was a character - why would someone ask what the meaning was if it were a random object and not a character?

If you turn it 90° counter-clockwise, it looks like a guy strangling an ostrich...

Kelton,

That image you are posing in front of on your profile reminds me of a funny story as well.

My friend was eating sushi at the bar and the cooks were constantly looking at him and giggling. Finally, my friend asked them if they would let him in on the joke.

They said that maybe he didn't want to know why they were laughing. He said, no please, I really want to know, I can take it. They said, your shirt says "I'm a stupid American." He was wearing a Paul Frank t-shirt with Japanese writing on it.

Ha! Google!

http://www.twoevils.org/images/photos/funny/baka-shirt.jpg

Check out the English writing on Japanese/Chinese signs and tee shirts and you'll realize that they make as little sense as those that go the other way.

It means your wall will feature metal sperm.

Cool. Now you can make your home into a temple.

i prefer the man strangling an ostrich, however dirty that is.

Another mystery character story: On my first (and I hope not my last) trip to Hong Kong, I bought a few yards of a lovely red silk brocade with a gold pattern, hoping to have it turned into a dress. The next night, dining with friends at an up-scale restaurant, I noticed the same fabric and pattern. I had apparently bought traditional Chinese headwaiter's lapel- facing material, saying something along the lines of "good appetite" or "eat hearty." 20 years later the fabric is still hanging in my closet.

I dont know if its really "sculpture", it may just be part of a set of characters from a temple that update their signage. Maybe someone got to the other characters already (as the OP stated this was found on the street.)

More likely, the character is missing the left half, which would have made it into the character for Samurai.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
The character is very often seen on Tshirts, flags, etc.

Turn it 90° clockwise. This Chinese character is "Shou" which means 'long life' or 'longevity'. The desire for long life embodied many Chinese traditions.

Like ling said, turn it clockwise 90 degree, but it is 'si', means 'temple' and it is a Chinese character, although Japan adapted it.
Generally it is combined with other character to make a name for the temple. Certainly you can hang it up. Please hang it right (turn it).

It's so not a sculpture, just a Chinese word, "temple", that was probably hung on the door frame of some temple and got threw away for renovation. You could certainly use it as "art piece", but it would look hilarious to anyone who understands Chinese/Japanese.

tsui is correct.