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Lot Essay
The present unusual emaciated figure may be identified, through the fruit held in his hands, as the ascetic Shakyamuni, or more commonly known in Chinese as Shougu Luohan. Shakyamuni was born as the crown Prince of the Shakya Kingdom, but after the young Siddhartha Gautama learned about the deep suffering of the people, he decided to leave the Palace life and to find the cause and meaning of the suffering by practicing self-deprivation and meditation in complete isolation on a snow mountain. According to the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the only food Shakyamuni would consume was the fruits in the wild. As a popular Chinese Buddhist iconography, the ascetic Shakyamuni is usually depicted in a seated position with one knee raised and both hands held in front of the torso. What makes the present figure extremely rare, and possibly a unique example, is his standing position and the branch of fruit.
The two-character name Shangjun, cleverly incorporated in the fruiting branch next to the figure, is the zi (courtesy name) of the renowned master carver Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou city, Fujian province. In Shoushanshi zhi (Records of Shoushan Stone), Fang Zonggui notes that Zhou Bin was possibly a master carver in the Imperial workshop during the Kangxi period. Zhou utilized the Chinese painting technique of xieyi (freehand brushwork), which emphasizes the semblance in the spiritual aspect, to create mesmerizing details in his design. Zhou was also known to cleverly hide his signature within the decoration. Sculptural figures bearing a Shangjun mark are very rare as the revered artist is better known for his extremely fine carving of archaistic birds and dragons, such as the tianhuang seal sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 November 1999, lot 723; and another tianhuang seal sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 720 (part). A soapstone ascetic Shakyamuni bearing a Shangjun mark, but in the common seated position, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 773. A small seated luohan from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, attributed to Zhou Bin and dated 17th century, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 73. Another small soapstone figure of seated Luohan (11.1 cm. high) inscribed on the base with Gumin Zhou Bin Shangjun shi zhi (made by Zhou Bin, Shang Jun of Gumin [Fujian]) is illustrated in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, pp. 86-87, no. 44.
The soapstone used for this exquisite figure is baifurong, a variety of furong stone, which range in color from white to pale creamy beige, and is found at the Jialiang mountains, located about eight kilometers outside of Shoushan Village in Fujian province. The large size of the current figure and the naturalistic details of the carving distinguishes it as amongst the rarest soapstone carvings of the 17th century. It required a carver of tremendous skill, such as Shangjun, to depict the intriguing expression on the figure’s face, not to mention plan out the utilization of the stone’s material markings to enhance the details. Given its complex composition of the figure, combined with the rarity of the material, it is perhaps not surprising that so few examples of standing baifurong figures survived to the present day.
The two-character name Shangjun, cleverly incorporated in the fruiting branch next to the figure, is the zi (courtesy name) of the renowned master carver Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou city, Fujian province. In Shoushanshi zhi (Records of Shoushan Stone), Fang Zonggui notes that Zhou Bin was possibly a master carver in the Imperial workshop during the Kangxi period. Zhou utilized the Chinese painting technique of xieyi (freehand brushwork), which emphasizes the semblance in the spiritual aspect, to create mesmerizing details in his design. Zhou was also known to cleverly hide his signature within the decoration. Sculptural figures bearing a Shangjun mark are very rare as the revered artist is better known for his extremely fine carving of archaistic birds and dragons, such as the tianhuang seal sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 November 1999, lot 723; and another tianhuang seal sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 720 (part). A soapstone ascetic Shakyamuni bearing a Shangjun mark, but in the common seated position, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 773. A small seated luohan from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, attributed to Zhou Bin and dated 17th century, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 73. Another small soapstone figure of seated Luohan (11.1 cm. high) inscribed on the base with Gumin Zhou Bin Shangjun shi zhi (made by Zhou Bin, Shang Jun of Gumin [Fujian]) is illustrated in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, pp. 86-87, no. 44.
The soapstone used for this exquisite figure is baifurong, a variety of furong stone, which range in color from white to pale creamy beige, and is found at the Jialiang mountains, located about eight kilometers outside of Shoushan Village in Fujian province. The large size of the current figure and the naturalistic details of the carving distinguishes it as amongst the rarest soapstone carvings of the 17th century. It required a carver of tremendous skill, such as Shangjun, to depict the intriguing expression on the figure’s face, not to mention plan out the utilization of the stone’s material markings to enhance the details. Given its complex composition of the figure, combined with the rarity of the material, it is perhaps not surprising that so few examples of standing baifurong figures survived to the present day.