Page 262 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN

Property from a California Collection
1148
A VERY RARE AND LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE 美४؟州珍藏
OF A SEATED LUOHAN 南宋 明׀ 十˕至十̩ˠ紀 鎏金銅羅漢ঙ像
SOUTHERN SONG-EARLY MING DYNASTY, 13TH-15TH CENTURY ח文：左Ս
The interior of the robe in engraved with a number and location, zuo liu (left six). Ϝ源
33q in. (85.5 cm.) high Gerda Mordhorst，紐☼，Ն藏於1978年ע
Rare Art, Inc.，紐☼
$500,000-700,000
PROVENANCE:
Gerda Mordhorst Collection, New York, prior to 1978.
Rare Art, Inc. New York.

This masterfully cast gilt-bronze figure of a luohan is exceptional for Tang-dynasty Emperor Xuanzang’s translation of Nandimitravadana,
its large size, the sensitive rendering of his serene face, and the fluid a scripture dedicated to the Sixteen Arhats (Luohan), in AD 654
and elegant treatment of the drapery. He takes the form of a youthful provided the theological foundation for the cult of luohan as well as
Buddhist monk wearing a Chinese-style robe and is shown sitting in a the basis for their artistic representations, which took shape in the
contemplative pose his hands joined in dhyana-mudra, an attitude of late Tang/Five-Dynasties periods. Although there are depictions of
meditation, and with his legs crossed beneath his robe which falls in monks in cave sculpture of the Tang period, the earliest depiction of
graceful folds as if draped over an edge. Two characters, zuo liu (left the Sixteen Luohan, as prescribed in Nandimitravadana, is found in
six), inscribed on the inside hem of his robe, likely indicate the figure’s the Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou, dated to AD 953 during the Wuyue
intended placement when displayed in a temple. Kingdom period. Apart from the Sixteen Luohan in the scripture, two
more figures were added: Nandimitra, the author of Nandimitravadana,
The worship of luohan reached its peak in the Song dynasty, when and another unnamed figure, possibly Xuanzang. The Yanxia Cave
stories of miraculous events associated with luohan were widespread set can thus also be considered the earliest depiction of the Eighteen
and propagated by the literati class. From the imperial family to laymen, Luohan, a composition not rooted in any Buddhist scriptures, but
all were participating in the worship, and the Northern Song-dynasty which gained popularity from the Song period onwards.
statesman, calligrapher and poet Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo (1037-
1101), was the most famous amongst them. His maternal grandfather, There are few bronze figures of luohan that can be definitively dated to
Cheng Wenying was said to have received generous help from sixteen the Song dynasty. Among the most notable are the four figures dating
monks, whom he believed to be the Sixteen Luohan in disguise, when to the Northern Song dynasty in the Xiangguo Temple in Kaifeng. They
he suffered crippling adversity at one point in his life. Thereafter, Cheng were allegedly part of a set of Fine Hundred Luohan, all which except
Wenying organized four large-scale ceremonies of luohan worship every for these four were destroyed in 1927. The Xiangguo Temple figures
year to commemorate them. When Su Shi was demoted and banished display a naturalistic, unadorned style not dissimilar to that of the
to Hainan Island, he remembered his grandfather’s story, and visited a current figure.
local luohan temple to pay his respects. He offered his calligraphy to
the temple and also composed four poems in praise of luohan. Later, he The present figure is very similar in style and size to a gilt-bronze figure
acquired a painting of the Eighteen Luohan by Zhang Xuan of the Five of a seated luohan dated to the Song-Yuan dynasty sold at Christie’s
Dynasties period (AD 907-979), and sent it as a gift to his brother Su Hong Kong, 30 May 2016, lot 3233, and now in the Tsz Shan Monastery
Che. There was a wide range of subjects for which people offered their Buddhist Art Museum, and to another pair of seated gilt-bronze figures
prayers to luohan in the Song dynasty: prayers concerning the weather sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 October 1991, lot 1668. The close
(rain); health and longevity; success in examination and officialdom; and similarity of these three figures and the current figure may indicate
prayers for the dead – almost every aspect of one’s life was touched by they were originally part of the same set. A pair of stylistically similar
the worship of luohan. gilt-bronze figures of luohan of comparable size, but shown with legs
pendent, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 March 2022, lot 2891,
Although the origin of luohan can be traced to the arhats in Indian and is now in The Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. no 4.2023. Like
scriptures, arhats were not objects of devotion in ancient India. The the current luohan, both of the Cleveland figures are inscribed with
cult of luohan and its artistic representation is therefore indigenous two-characters (zuo si [left four] and you si [right four]) which likely
to China, a by-product of Buddhism’s long history of sinicization. The indicate their intended placement when on display.

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