Page 108 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

DING GUANPENG’S

SIXTEEN LUOHAN
A MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF

QIANLONG IMPERIAL
‘LUOHAN’ PANELS FROM THE
A. W. BAHR AND WILLIAM
SKINNER COLLECTIONS

丁觀鵬十六應真像

巴爾及 WILLIAM SKINNER 收藏
乾隆御製羅漢掛屏一對

This pair of panels is exceptional; embellished with brilliantly Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, 2010, p. 156). The fifth Dalai Fig.1 William Cobbett
gilded figures cast from bronze, they reveal the hand of Lama had declared the Qing emperors to be cakravartin, and Skinner (1857-1947)
a true master. While their subject matter is testament to according to Tibetan Buddhist teachings the appearance of a
the Qianlong Emperor’s devotion towards Buddhism, their cakravartin fortold the arrival of Maitreya.
compositional virtuosity, particularly notable in the depiction A jichimu table screen inlaid with 500 luohan carved
of the different layers of relief, displays the exceptional from ivory, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in
workmanship achieved by the Imperial wood workshop in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace
this period.
Furniture, Beijing, 2007, vol. 1, pl. 389, together with a
The inscription on the top of the panels tells the story of sixteen-panel zitan screen inspired by Guanxiu’s paintings,
the sixteen eminent luohan, each meticulously depicted each panel inlaid in jade with a luohan, pl. 380; and a three-
inhabiting the rocky landscape. Close personal disciples panel screen carved from jichimu, ivory and jade with eight
of the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni, the enlightened luohan, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot
luohan were a popular subject in the Qianlong reign. Their 3651. Compare also a jade plaque with luohan in a mountains
iconography, with distinctive exaggerated, almost grotesque, landscape, illustrated in Geoffrey Wills, Jade of the East,
features, originated with an influential rendition of each New York, 1972, pl. 66; one carved from lacquer, from the
luohan by the famous late Tang (618-907) and Five Dynasties collection of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Bodwich Cottell,
(907-960) monk and painter Guanxiu (823-912), who saw sold in our London rooms, 4th November 2009, lot 123; and
them appear this way in a dream. The legendary paintings another sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot
by Guanxiu were stored at Shengyin Si in Hangzhou, which 3626.
the Emperor visited during his second Southern Inspection While Guanxiu’s paintings of luohan are now lost, Ding
Tour in 1757. The Emperor was convinced that they were the Guanpeng’s versions are held in the National Palace
original paintings recorded in the inventory of the collection Museum, Taipei, and were included in the exhibition The
of Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126), Xuanhe huapu [The All Complete Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing
Xuanhe catalogue of paintings]. Deeply moved by these Emperor Gaozong, Taipei, 2013, cat. no. III-1.18.
images, he composed a eulogy to each luohan, renumbered
them and provided a translation of their names in Chinese. The present pair of panels has a particularly illustrious
He further ordered the court artist Ding Guanpeng (active provenance, having been in the collections of both A.W. Bahr
1737-68) to create copies. (1877-1959) and William Cobbett Skinner (1857-1947).
While not the first Manchu ruler to actively support A.W. Bahr was born in Shanghai in 1877 to a German father
Buddhism, the Qianlong Emperor’s engagement with and a Chinese mother. Working in China as a coal merchant
Buddhist causes represents an exception. A true believer and general importer, he built a large collection of important
and a genuine practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, his Chinese art. In 1911 he authored Old Chinese Porcelain and
fervent support of the religion was both a personal and Works of Art, which featured many works from his own
political choice. Buddhist images, including those of luohan, collection which had been exhibited in Shanghai in November
proliferated during the reign, as they were considered 1908. In 1916, the American Art Association in New York
vehicles for the dissemination of Buddhist teachings, and held an auction of Chinese works from his collection entitled
therefore a means to increase one’s merit. Luohan were also The Art of Ancient China. A Remarkable Collection formed by
believed to be guardians of the dharma and of religious sites Connoisseur and Authority on Ancient Chinese Art Mr A.W.
until the arrival of the Future Buddha Maitreya, hence ‘the Bahr for over Thirty Years a Resident of Shanghai, which
conceptual relationship between luohan and the Qianlong which featured the present panels as lot 500, purchased in
Emperor is not tangential’ (Nancy Berliner, The Emperor’s the sale by William Skinner.
Private Paradise. Treasures from the Forbidden City,

106 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART