18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details

A SET OF TEN GILT REPOUSSÉ COPPER FIGURES OF LUOHANS
18TH-19TH CENTURY
Each luohan is shown standing on a separate base, wearing crisply draped priest's robes incised with floral decoration. Each is shown with a smiling expression, and holding or accompanied by a different attribute, including a dragon, prayer beads, and musical instruments.
8 ¾ in. (22.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Willard D. Straight (1880-1918) Collection, acquired before 1914.
The India House Club Collection, New York.
Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1532.

Lot Essay

Luohans, also known as arhats, are enlightened Buddhist beings who act as worldly conduits to the state of infinitely expanded consciousness granted by their enlightenment. Images of luohans probably originated in Kashmir, and were first mentioned in the Mahayanavataraka, which was translated into Chinese in AD 437; their names were later identified by the early Tang dynasty pilgrim-monk Xuanzang in AD 654. Numbers vary in Buddhist tradition, but a group of eighteen was eventually established as the standard Chinese grouping, which became popular in later Chinese art, appearing in a wide variety of media.

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