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Lot Essay
Compare the bronze figure dated late Song or slightly later, illustrated by Hajek, Chinesishe Kunst in Tschechoslowakischen Museen, Prague, 1954, no. 115, p. 43. The author notes the similarity between this and other ceramic and wood sculptures of the period. Note too the similarity in the fluid execution of the drapery and the natural, almost portrait-like, facial features.
Compare, also, a pair of similar gilt-bronze figures, perhaps with less sophisticated modeling and of more slender form, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2 October 1991, lot 1668. These were unnumbered suggesting that, despite other similarities, they were not commissioned by or for the same temple.
Wenwu, 1984, no. 3, pls. 5 and 6, records the discovery at Lingyan Temple, Chengqing xian, Shangdong province, some forty figures of luohans, all dated to the Song period, but of much smaller size. They bear some resemblance to this figure, particularly in the treatment of the fluid folds of drapery at the front.
According to the Samyukta-Ratna-Pitaka Sutra, Princess Yasodhara, wife of Prince Siddhartha, gave birth to a boy named Rahula. He was conceived on the night his father left home and was born six years later on the very night Prince Siddartha attained buddhahood. Not surprisingly, Yasodhara was accused of impropriety, and King Suddhodana ordered that both mother and son be burned to death. The Buddha, knowing they were in danger, arrived on a cloud to shower flowers of protection on them. The Princess, called to him to protect her innocence, but nonetheless threw herself into the fire, whereupon the fire pit turned into a pond and she emerged calmly sitting on a lotus.
In another text, the boy Rahula goes to his father the Buddha to ask for his inheritance as a royal prince. The Buddha decides to grant him an inheritance "which transcends the world" and ordains him as a monk. King Suddhodana, not at all pleased by this course of events, requests that the Buddha asks his parents permission first. The Buddha grants him this request, later establishing a fundamental monastic rule concerning the ordination of a monk. Eventually, Prince Rahula is ordained, becoming one of the four great bhiksus to whom the Buddha entrusted the propagation of Buddhism.
Groups of luohans, also known as arhats or Buddhist saints, ranging in number from 16-100 are depicted in Chinese art from the Tang dynasty up to recent times. Sixteen luohans are first mentioned in the Six Dynasties period; later, the number is increased to eighteen. They are usually treated as a form of portraiture in which individual features and personality traits are highlighted.
Rahula is generally depicted holding a golden tiara atop his raised hands.
Compare, also, a pair of similar gilt-bronze figures, perhaps with less sophisticated modeling and of more slender form, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2 October 1991, lot 1668. These were unnumbered suggesting that, despite other similarities, they were not commissioned by or for the same temple.
Wenwu, 1984, no. 3, pls. 5 and 6, records the discovery at Lingyan Temple, Chengqing xian, Shangdong province, some forty figures of luohans, all dated to the Song period, but of much smaller size. They bear some resemblance to this figure, particularly in the treatment of the fluid folds of drapery at the front.
According to the Samyukta-Ratna-Pitaka Sutra, Princess Yasodhara, wife of Prince Siddhartha, gave birth to a boy named Rahula. He was conceived on the night his father left home and was born six years later on the very night Prince Siddartha attained buddhahood. Not surprisingly, Yasodhara was accused of impropriety, and King Suddhodana ordered that both mother and son be burned to death. The Buddha, knowing they were in danger, arrived on a cloud to shower flowers of protection on them. The Princess, called to him to protect her innocence, but nonetheless threw herself into the fire, whereupon the fire pit turned into a pond and she emerged calmly sitting on a lotus.
In another text, the boy Rahula goes to his father the Buddha to ask for his inheritance as a royal prince. The Buddha decides to grant him an inheritance "which transcends the world" and ordains him as a monk. King Suddhodana, not at all pleased by this course of events, requests that the Buddha asks his parents permission first. The Buddha grants him this request, later establishing a fundamental monastic rule concerning the ordination of a monk. Eventually, Prince Rahula is ordained, becoming one of the four great bhiksus to whom the Buddha entrusted the propagation of Buddhism.
Groups of luohans, also known as arhats or Buddhist saints, ranging in number from 16-100 are depicted in Chinese art from the Tang dynasty up to recent times. Sixteen luohans are first mentioned in the Six Dynasties period; later, the number is increased to eighteen. They are usually treated as a form of portraiture in which individual features and personality traits are highlighted.
Rahula is generally depicted holding a golden tiara atop his raised hands.