SONG-MING DYNASTY (AD 960-1644)

A luohan (the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word, arhat) was originally the term referring to those that had achieved a certain degree of enlightenment, but by the Tang dynasty (AD 618- 907), luohan were considered the disciples of Buddha Shakyamuni who maintained his teachings until the coming of the Future Buddha, Maitreya. The political strife of the 7th and 8th centuries left many devotees calling for Maitreya’s arrival, and thus elevated the importance of the luohan. That popularity endured for centuries after, even during times of relative peace and prosperity in China.

The present head of a luohan is sensitively carved to relay an aura of peacefulness and wisdom. Careful attention has been paid to the lines in the forehead, the wrinkles around the eyes and the hair of the beard and eyebrows. This treatment of deeply lined features is similar to that found on a luohan head in the Nationaal Museum Van Wereldculturen, the Netherlands, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen (Chinese Art in Overseas Collections; Buddhist Sculpture), National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, pl. 140. (Fig. 1) It is also very similar to a conglomerate limestone head of a luohan from the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 12 September 2018, lot 14.