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Lot Essay
The present soapstone figure represents the Fu Hu Luohan (the Tiger-Taming Luohan). According to legend, a tiger would frequently roar out of hunger near the temple where the luohan resided. The luohan, out of compassion, shared his food with the tiger. Over time, the tiger was tamed and grew close to the luohan, often playing with him. This figure later became the eighteenth of the Eighteen Luohan, also known as the Venerable Maitreya. His meditation on love and kindness symbolically subdues fierce, tiger-like manifestations of greed and hatred in the universe.
Soapstone has long been prized for its beautiful range of colors and its softness, which enables carvers to achieve extraordinary details. Small, intricately carved figures such as the present example were often exchanged as gifts among royalty and nobility. They also became essential objects on a scholar's desk, forming a significant collecting category in Chinese art. The present figure exemplifies the skill of mid-Qing dynasty soapstone carvers through its meticulous carving, evident in the animated facial expression and the flowing drapery of the robe. Although the present figure lacks a carver’s mark, a comparable Tiger-Taming Luohan with similar details and techniques, bearing the mark of Shangjun, is in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum. (Fig. 1) Another related figure with the mark of Kaitong, is also in the Beijing Palace Museum, and is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji: Diaosu Bian – 6 – Yuan Ming Qing Diaosu (The Complete Collection of Chinese Art: Sculpture Volume – Yuan, Ming, and Qing Sculpture), Beijing, 1988, p. 145, pl. 157.
Soapstone has long been prized for its beautiful range of colors and its softness, which enables carvers to achieve extraordinary details. Small, intricately carved figures such as the present example were often exchanged as gifts among royalty and nobility. They also became essential objects on a scholar's desk, forming a significant collecting category in Chinese art. The present figure exemplifies the skill of mid-Qing dynasty soapstone carvers through its meticulous carving, evident in the animated facial expression and the flowing drapery of the robe. Although the present figure lacks a carver’s mark, a comparable Tiger-Taming Luohan with similar details and techniques, bearing the mark of Shangjun, is in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum. (Fig. 1) Another related figure with the mark of Kaitong, is also in the Beijing Palace Museum, and is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji: Diaosu Bian – 6 – Yuan Ming Qing Diaosu (The Complete Collection of Chinese Art: Sculpture Volume – Yuan, Ming, and Qing Sculpture), Beijing, 1988, p. 145, pl. 157.