Page 162 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

2893 Continued

The earliest example of this iconography seems to have appeared in
the Wuyue Kingdom period, as one of the Sixteen Luohan sculpture in
the Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou (fig. 1) was carved as a monk holding a
pearl in his right hand and an alms bowl in his left. However, no dragon
is depicted, and since he is one of the Sixteen Luohan, his identity is
unlikely to be Xianglong Luohan, who is seventeenth of the Eighteen
Luohan. Nevertheless, it is certain that this iconography appears by
the 10th century. The current luohan is depicted as a foreigner with
very exaggerated facial features that recall those of Guanxiu’s luohan
paintings with their caricature rendering of expressions. However, the
most striking aspect on the current figure is the swirling pattern of the fig. 1 Stone Arhat, circa AD 935,
robe, which appears to have been inspired by Northern Song temple Wuyue Kingdom, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
Yanxia Cave, Hangzhou
sculptures. See, for example, two Northern Song examples of Xianglong 圖一 吳越廣順三年（953）羅漢石像，杭州煙霞洞
Luohan, one in the Baosheng Temple (fig. 2) with the edge of his robe
ending in distinctive curls; one in the Chongqing Temple with parallel
folds on the lower robe and concentric circles on the right knee. The
incised cloud scroll around the edge of the robe and the dragon design
on the lower robe can be compared to the dragon and cloud motif
found on Jin Dynasty Ding wares, such as the dish in the Shanghai
Museum (fig. 3). The current bronze is a very rare example of early
luohan sculpture that shows the eccentric influences of Guanxiu and the
freedom with which the sculptor had in approaching his subject.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of the
thermoluminescence test from Oxford Authentication Ltd, no. C117c20.

此尊羅漢的形象，最早出現於吳越時期煙霞洞的十六羅漢之一（圖一），
同樣是一梵僧左手托缽，右手高舉持珠。但是未見有龍，而且既是十六羅漢，
其身份便不會是十八羅漢之第十七的降龍羅漢，但可知此形象最遲在十世
紀已出現，雖然也是梵僧，深目高鼻，但不似此銅羅漢之面相奇特，令人聯想
起貫休所畫誇張特異的羅漢。此銅羅漢身穿印度式袈裟，袒露圓腹，臉上身
上青筋浮現，刻畫生動。最令人印象深刻的是衣袍膝蓋上的漩渦式衣紋，
應該是受到宋代寺院塑像的影響。如保聖寺的一尊降龍羅漢（圖二），其衣 fig. 2 A figure of Xianglong Luohan,
Northern Song dynasty.
袍邊緣便可見漩渦狀轉褶；而崇慶寺的北宋時期降龍羅漢像其衣袍下襬可 Baosheng Temple, Suzhou
見密集的平行皺褶，其右膝上也可見同心圓紋路。還有下襬的龍紋及衣領上 圖二 北宋降龍羅漢像，蘇州保聖寺
的卷雲紋，可以跟上海博物館所藏的一件金代定窯印花龍紋盤（圖三）上的
紋飾做比較。此尊羅漢是難得一見的早期銅羅漢造像，體現貫休畫風的影響
及當時工匠不拘一格的造像風格。
本拍品經牛津檢測中心進行熱釋光定年測試，測試報告編號為 no. C117c20，
其測試結果與拍品定年相符合。

fig. 3 Collection of the Shanghai Museum
圖三 上海博物館藏品

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