Page 167 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

The Qing emperors were devout Buddhists and followed the practice Emperor’s retirement retreat. The fact that four zitan altar tables were
of luohan worship. It is known that when the Qianlong Emperor needed suggests that not only one luohan figure was displayed, but
visited Sheng'en Temple in Hangzhou in 1757, he was invited to likely a whole set of sixteen or even more.
view a painting of the Sixteen Luohan by the revered Five Dynasties
monk-painter Guan Xiu and was immediately fascinated by it. He Besides the present figure, only a handful of similar famille rose
even ordered his court painter Ding Guanpeng to replicate Guan Xiu’s figures of luohan on rock-form seats are known, and all depict
painting, and composed poems to eulogize the image. As a result, different luohan. One was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 October
works of art depicting the sixteen Luohan in Guan Xiu’s style became 1991, lot 267, and is shown seated with the robe open at front and
one of the frequent tribute offerings by high-ranking officials to the modeled with raised hands. Two figures, more similar in modeling
emperor. and enameling to the present figure, were sold at Christie’s London,
10 November 2015, lot 304, and two other examples were sold at
However, porcelain figures of luohan from the first half of the 18th Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3020. (Fig. 1)
century such as the present figure are extremely rare. According to
Comprehensive Records of Zaobanchu Workshops, in the fourty-fifth It is interesting to note that the present figure, and the two cited
year of the Qianlong reign, an Imperial command was issued to the above that were sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, were all incised on the
Imperial Household Department for four zitan altar tables in the rock bases with numbers and cardinal directions. The Hong Kong pair
Ningshou Palace displaying ceramic luohan to be adjusted in size was inscribed with dong si ('east four') and dong ba ('east eight'). It is
(see Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient Chinese possible that these inscriptions may refer to a numbering system for
Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, p. 266). From this palace record we know their placement in a specific order and location within sets of sixteen.
that ceramic luohan figures were displayed within the palace, and
were placed within the prestigious Ningshou Palace, the Qianlong