Page 214 - Christie's IMPORTANT CHINESE Ceramics and Works of Art may 28 2021 hk

This rare thangka depicting Luohan Kanakavats is a great
example showing the increasing influence of Chinese court
painting styles on Tibetan art. Kanakavatsa is one of a
grouping of 16 or 18 arhats, believed to be Buddha’s original
disciples. He is shown haloed and seated on a rock surrounded
by Chinese ‘blue and green’ style landscape. He is holding a
necklace in his hands, wearing elaborate brocade robes, and
accompanied by a younger attendant holding an alms bowl.
There is a foreign devotee holding a red coral tree on the
bottom left, and a blue goat on the bottom right. Notably, the
thangka retains its original brocade mounting.
Kanakavatsa was thought to have been born in Bihar in eastern
India to wealthy parents. His name means ‘baby gold elephant’,
as legend has it that a baby elephant that excreted gold was born
at the same time as he. This elephant followed him everywhere,
even after he became a Buddhist disciple. This became very
distracting to the other monks, and Sakyamuni asked his student
to get rid of it. Kanakavatsa told the Buddha that he has been
trying to get rid of it without success, as the elephant always
finds its way back to him. The Buddha said, ‘if you tell the fig. 1 Rubbing from stele fig. 2 Collection of the National
elephant “I will not be reborn, and I do not need you” three times, depicting no. 2 of 16 arhats by Palace Museum, Taipei
it will disappear.’ He did and the elephant disappeared into the Guanxiu (832-912). Harvard 圖二 國立故宮博物院藏品
ground. Another story relating to Knakavatsa is that he once University Fine Arts Library
圖一 唐代貫休（832-912）
begged alms in the Naga Kingdom, preaching the dharma and 十六羅漢石刻拓本 哈佛大學藝術
converting many to Buddhism. As a token of gratitude, the Naga 圖書館
King gave him a necklace made of precious gems, which he is
shown holding in the current thangka. Yuan court, there was increasing cultural exchange between
the two nations, and Chinese court painting styles were being
The cult of Luohan was introduced to China in the Six creatively adapted on Tibetan thangka, as artists moved away
Dynasties (4th-6th Centuries), and became a favourite subject from the earlier, more Indian-influenced painting styles. The
for artists from the Tang period. The monk Guanxiu (832- British Museum example is obviously the precursor of the
912) painted a well known composition of sixteen Luohan Yongle Kanakavatsa composition, one of a set of Luohan
that survived as rubbings. His Luohan, following the style of paintings commissioned by the Emperor as gift to Tibet,
Wu Daozi (680-740), are solitary figures sitting on fantastic as they share many features, such as the depiction of the
rocks, and have foreign, almost grotesque features (fig. 1). By haloed Luohan, the young attendant, the foreign devotee,
the 12th century, the depiction of Luohan has gone through and the small crouching beast to the foreground. A group of
dramatic stylistic changes. The court painter Liu Songnian
(1174-1224) refined the features of the monks to that of nine paintings from the Yongle series is illustrated by Gisèle
Croës in Splendor of Yongle Painting: Portraits of Nine Luohan,
court portraitures, showing them haloed, wearing elaborate
robes and accompanied by fine accoutrements (fig. 2). The Brussels, 2002 (fig. 4). The group of Yongle Luohan paintings
monks not only look like nobilities, they also have attendants, are some of the most refined examples of Imperial Buddhist
often foreign figures bearing treasures. Liu Songnian is paintings ever produced. The court artists that painted these
also renowned for painting ‘blue and green’ style landscape have obviously seen examples from Tibet, like the British
paintings, and it is interesting to see his influence on this Museum example, or were themselves Tibetans working at
14th century thangka of Kanakavatsa in the British Museum the court. The current painting follows the Yongle composition
(fig. 3), where the artist has incorporated both his figurative closely, but the painting style and colouration show a distinct
and landscape styles to create a new composition. The Tibetan flavor and is most likely painted in Tibetan workshops.
British Museum example was found in a ruined monastery Later, this same composition was revived in the Qing period
in Shigatse, and most likely painted by a Tibetan artist. As by artists working in the Imperial court (fig. 5), showing its
Tibetan Buddhism was decreed the national religion by the enduring appeal.

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