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Lot Essay
The stone of even, pale white tone is finely carved in the form of a mountain boulder, depicting Luohan Cudapanthaka seated within a deep grotto, holding a fan in one hand, beneath a gnarled flowering tree branch. Above the figure, the rock face is incised with an imperial poem eulogising the Eleventh Luohan.
The poem composed by Emperor Qianlong is published in Qinggaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji-Yuzhiwen Chuji, 1976, Taipei, vol.29, p.550 (fig. 1). It may be translated as:
Leaning on a gnarled tree, resting my bent body.
Who is the guest? Who is the host?
Two fingers raised, a fan sweeps by.
Unfathomable, truth slips through grasping hands, to think is to err.
Amongst all Buddhist figures, a group of Sixteen Luohan has long been regarded as especially revered. As Tibetan Buddhism was adopted by the Qing imperial court as the state religion, depictions of Luohan figures became increasingly prominent and were frequently rendered in a variety of media.
A similarly carved jade boulder depicting Cudapanthaka seated within a grotto is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: guyu001522 (fig. 2), with identical inscriptions on its front face as those seen on the present boulder. Another related jade boulder, portraying a Luohan seated on a rock with an inscription identifying him as the Ninth Luohan on one of the cliff faces, is in the collection of the British Museum, collection number: 1930,1217.15. Compare also a Qianlong jade boulder depicting the Luohan Kalika, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2019, lot 823.
The poem composed by Emperor Qianlong is published in Qinggaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji-Yuzhiwen Chuji, 1976, Taipei, vol.29, p.550 (fig. 1). It may be translated as:
Leaning on a gnarled tree, resting my bent body.
Who is the guest? Who is the host?
Two fingers raised, a fan sweeps by.
Unfathomable, truth slips through grasping hands, to think is to err.
Amongst all Buddhist figures, a group of Sixteen Luohan has long been regarded as especially revered. As Tibetan Buddhism was adopted by the Qing imperial court as the state religion, depictions of Luohan figures became increasingly prominent and were frequently rendered in a variety of media.
A similarly carved jade boulder depicting Cudapanthaka seated within a grotto is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: guyu001522 (fig. 2), with identical inscriptions on its front face as those seen on the present boulder. Another related jade boulder, portraying a Luohan seated on a rock with an inscription identifying him as the Ninth Luohan on one of the cliff faces, is in the collection of the British Museum, collection number: 1930,1217.15. Compare also a Qianlong jade boulder depicting the Luohan Kalika, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2019, lot 823.