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拍品专文
The present carving belongs to a distinctive group of luohan boulders produced during the Qianlong reign, combining precious materials with Buddhist imagery and inscriptions composed by the Emperor himself. The group derives from the celebrated paintings of the Sixteen Luohans traditionally attributed to Guanxiu (832–912), which the Qianlong Emperor encountered at Shengyin Temple in Hangzhou during his second Southern Inspection Tour in 1757. The Emperor subsequently revised the names and sequence of the sixteen luohans and composed an individual encomium for each figure, providing an important source for later Qing court works.
The present boulder depicts Panthaka, the Thirteenth Luohan, seated in meditation with his arms clasped around his knees, facing the rock face. Reserved on the upper left of the rock is Qianlong’s corresponding imperial encomium, which may be translated as: “The Buddha’s dharani rests in his hand; his face is flushed crimson, as though intoxicated with wine. Having comprehended the Four Noble Truths, he has severed the root of doubt. Panthaka, thus has he heard the Buddha’s teaching.” The encomium for the Thirteenth Luohan is recorded in the Qianlong Emperor’s First Collection of Imperial Writings, juan 29, in the Encomium on Guanxiu’s Paintings of the Sixteen Arhats. The placement of the inscription directly on the rock face demonstrates how image, landscape and imperial text were conceived as an integrated composition. Particularly significant is a jade boulder in the Shanxi Museum depicting the same luohan in a closely related composition and bearing the same imperial encomium, indicating that both derive from the same established visual and textual prototype.
Lapis lazuli, with its intense blue colour, pale inclusions and golden pyrite, was particularly suited to these miniature sacred landscapes. Closely related lapis lazuli examples are preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei, including a 13.7 cm high boulder depicting Abheda, the Sixteenth Luohan, accession no. guza000753, inscribed with Qianlong’s corresponding encomium, and another larger example, 31 cm high, accession no. guza000065, similarly bearing an imperial luohan encomium.
The repetition of the same images and texts in different precious materials is characteristic of Qianlong court production. Compare a jade luohan boulder formerly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 17, and an imperial-inscribed white jade luohan boulder sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 2805.
The present boulder depicts Panthaka, the Thirteenth Luohan, seated in meditation with his arms clasped around his knees, facing the rock face. Reserved on the upper left of the rock is Qianlong’s corresponding imperial encomium, which may be translated as: “The Buddha’s dharani rests in his hand; his face is flushed crimson, as though intoxicated with wine. Having comprehended the Four Noble Truths, he has severed the root of doubt. Panthaka, thus has he heard the Buddha’s teaching.” The encomium for the Thirteenth Luohan is recorded in the Qianlong Emperor’s First Collection of Imperial Writings, juan 29, in the Encomium on Guanxiu’s Paintings of the Sixteen Arhats. The placement of the inscription directly on the rock face demonstrates how image, landscape and imperial text were conceived as an integrated composition. Particularly significant is a jade boulder in the Shanxi Museum depicting the same luohan in a closely related composition and bearing the same imperial encomium, indicating that both derive from the same established visual and textual prototype.
Lapis lazuli, with its intense blue colour, pale inclusions and golden pyrite, was particularly suited to these miniature sacred landscapes. Closely related lapis lazuli examples are preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei, including a 13.7 cm high boulder depicting Abheda, the Sixteenth Luohan, accession no. guza000753, inscribed with Qianlong’s corresponding encomium, and another larger example, 31 cm high, accession no. guza000065, similarly bearing an imperial luohan encomium.
The repetition of the same images and texts in different precious materials is characteristic of Qianlong court production. Compare a jade luohan boulder formerly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 17, and an imperial-inscribed white jade luohan boulder sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 2805.