Page 255 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

Finely fashioned with highly individualized facial features, this luohan belongs to a set created by one of the great carvers of the
17th century, Zhou Bin, zi, Shangjun. As one of the best known and talented soapstone carvers, Zhou was a native of Zhangzhou in
Fujian province, where large soapstone quarries are located. Although textual information about him is scarce, and his exact dates
are not known, he is believed to have been active in the Kangxi period and to have been trained by Yang Yuxuan, another well-
known soapstone carver. Fang Zonggui in Shoushanshi zhi [Records of Shoushan Stone], Fuzhou, 1982, pp 77-8, notes that Zhou’s
works were always prized in artistic circles.

Three luohan belonging to the same set as the present figure have been previously auctioned, all of which came from the same
collection. One depicted holding a lingzhi, similarly incised to the underside with dishiliuzunzhe zhilingzhi Shangjun (The sixteenth
luohan holding a lingzhi, Shangjun), was sold in these rooms, 22nd September 2005, lot 60, and again in our Hong Kong rooms,
2nd June 2016, lot 73, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection; the second holding a ruyi scepter, inscribed with
diqizunzhe zhiyuruyi Shangjun (The seventh luohan holding a jade ruyi, Shangjun), was sold in these rooms, 31st March-1st April
2005, lot 202; and the third identified as the tenth luohan, was sold in the same rooms, 22nd September 2004, lot 50.

Further surviving examples of small figural sculptures from series of luohan, usually seated on elaborate cushions or rockwork
bases, comprise one included in the exhibition Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1986, cat. no. 44; a figure holding a lion cub and seated on a stepped platform incised with lotus sprays, sold in our
Hong Kong rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 136; one in the National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, published in Zhongguo wenwu
jinghua daquan, Jinyin yushi juan [Compendium of Chinese art. gold, silver, jade and stone], Hong Kong, 1994, p. 83, pl. 242; and a
fourth example included in the exhibition In Scholar's Taste, Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1983, cat. no. 123.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-chinese-art?locale=en 255/435