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PROPERTY OF A CONNECTICUT PRIVATE Naturalistically modelled after the sculptural Luohan are protectors of the Buddha’s teaching
COLLECTOR tradition of Tang dynasty (618-907), ! gures who reached advanced states of spiritual
A RARE SET OF FIVE FINELY such as the present luohan were produced to awareness. From the 10th to 13th centuries,
MODELED PAINTED POTTERY be displayed in groups in temples to encourage ceramic ! gures of luohan were made in various
LUOHAN devotees to reach a state of deep meditation. sizes, from small ! gurines such as the present
! gures to imposing, life-sized sancai-glazed
SONG DYNASTY Related sculptures include an example in the models. The present type of painted pottery and
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated
each ! gure seated on a rockwork base in varying in Lefebvre d’Argencé and René-Yvon, Chinese, stoneware ! gures belong to a group that are
poses of ease or meditation, attired in long, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery usually portrayed sitting on roughly hewn rocks
engaged in study and meditation.
monastic, loose robes falling in naturalistic Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1974, pl.
folds, two bare-chested and one with the tips of 147; one, likely from the Zijin’an temple, Wu The dating of this lot is consistent with the
both square-toed shoes protruding below the Xian, Jiangsu province and now in the Palace results of thermoluminescence test, Oxford
hem, the expressive countenances sensitively Museum, Beijing, published in Zhongguo Meishu Authentication Ltd., no. C103n33.
individualized with ! nely incised wrinkles, brows, Quanji, Wudai Song Diaosu/Complete Series on
and smile lines, framed by pendulous lobes, with Chinese Art, Sculpture, Five Dynasties and Song, $ 80,000-120,000
traces of bright green and red pigment (5) vol. 5, Beijing, 1988, pl. 151; one in the Baerwald ҂ ௗ̋੹ᖯဏګɓଡ଼ʞయ
Height 11¼ in., 28.6 cm Collection, included in the exhibition Ausstellung
Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 494; Ը๕
PROVENANCE and another, once in the Sun Zi temple, Shanxi ॲߒᘽబˢ2003ϋ9˜17˚dᇜ໮51
Sotheby’s New York, 17th September 2003, province, from the collection of Mrs. James
lot 51. Cromwell, sold in these rooms, 4th December
1984, lot 116. See also a luohan from the
collection of Arthur Vernay, sold in our London
rooms, 10th June 1986, lot 88, again at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 766 and
a third time in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd-4th
December 2015, lot 584.

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