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Lot Essay
The term Rakan or Arhat is used to designate the original disciples of Buddha. As holy persons who have conquered all passions, they came to be popularly worshipped in groups of all sizes in both China and Japan.
It is very difficult to exactly identify the disciples of Buddha as they are mostly depicted with shaven heads, long eyebrows, pierced pendent ears and draped in a cloak falling from one shoulder.
For this reason one can only tentatively assume that the Rakan from Kasteel De Haar, represents Rahula (Sonja), Buddha's only son and master of esoteric practice. He is often depicted as severely emaciated and with deep furrows on his forehead. The mournful expression of this Rakan indicates that it may have been part of a group of disciples mourning the death of Buddha. This was not an uncommon statuary group in Japan.
Such statuary groups were introduced to Japan by the sculptor Shoun Genkei (1648-1710) who made the group of Five Hundred Arhats in wood for Gohyaku Rakanji temple. He was strongly influenced by the work of his Chinese comtemporary Fan Dao Sheng (1637-1701). Fan has been attributed with the exquisite group of eighteen arhats in the Tai Yu Hodan of Manpukuji (1663-64). These sculptures representing Buddha's disciples were placed on two platforms along the walls of the altar allowing the worshippers to pass by. It is in this tradition that many group sculptures of Rakan were displayed in Japanese temples for the next centuries while at the same time they strongly developed a style of their own.
It is likely that the statuary group to which this Rakan once belonged, was dismantled during the Meiji reign (1868-1912). It was a period when the government encouraged the re-establishment of the indigenous Shinto religion in favour of Buddhism. As a result many temples lost their patrons, found themselves short of funds and sold their treasures to collectors at home and abroad. It was during this very same period that the National Museum of Tokyo was able to form the core of its collection.
In the archives of Kasteel De Haar, a bill survives from 'Maison des Bambous - Antiquités Curiosités' in Paris dated 30/07/1927 where it probably describes the above statue as: 'Divinité Chinoise assise bois lacqué doré, ancien XVIII e siècle' (see illustration ........). It was not uncommon to misattribute Japanese and Chinese artefacts as scholarly knowledge was not widely developed and many collectors were primarily interested in the exotic character of artefacts from the Far East.
It is very difficult to exactly identify the disciples of Buddha as they are mostly depicted with shaven heads, long eyebrows, pierced pendent ears and draped in a cloak falling from one shoulder.
For this reason one can only tentatively assume that the Rakan from Kasteel De Haar, represents Rahula (Sonja), Buddha's only son and master of esoteric practice. He is often depicted as severely emaciated and with deep furrows on his forehead. The mournful expression of this Rakan indicates that it may have been part of a group of disciples mourning the death of Buddha. This was not an uncommon statuary group in Japan.
Such statuary groups were introduced to Japan by the sculptor Shoun Genkei (1648-1710) who made the group of Five Hundred Arhats in wood for Gohyaku Rakanji temple. He was strongly influenced by the work of his Chinese comtemporary Fan Dao Sheng (1637-1701). Fan has been attributed with the exquisite group of eighteen arhats in the Tai Yu Hodan of Manpukuji (1663-64). These sculptures representing Buddha's disciples were placed on two platforms along the walls of the altar allowing the worshippers to pass by. It is in this tradition that many group sculptures of Rakan were displayed in Japanese temples for the next centuries while at the same time they strongly developed a style of their own.
It is likely that the statuary group to which this Rakan once belonged, was dismantled during the Meiji reign (1868-1912). It was a period when the government encouraged the re-establishment of the indigenous Shinto religion in favour of Buddhism. As a result many temples lost their patrons, found themselves short of funds and sold their treasures to collectors at home and abroad. It was during this very same period that the National Museum of Tokyo was able to form the core of its collection.
In the archives of Kasteel De Haar, a bill survives from 'Maison des Bambous - Antiquités Curiosités' in Paris dated 30/07/1927 where it probably describes the above statue as: 'Divinité Chinoise assise bois lacqué doré, ancien XVIII e siècle' (see illustration ........). It was not uncommon to misattribute Japanese and Chinese artefacts as scholarly knowledge was not widely developed and many collectors were primarily interested in the exotic character of artefacts from the Far East.