Page 64 - September 23 to 24 Important Chinese Art Christie's NYC

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
~743
A RARE AND SUPERBLY CARVED BAIFURONG FIGURE OF A LUOHAN
17TH-18TH CENTURY
The figure is shown seated with right leg raised and right hand resting on his
knee, leaning against a gnarled trunk growing from an intricate network of
intertwined roots forming the base on which he sits. He holds in his left hand a
scepter topped by a stylized leonine mask and wears voluminous, long-sleeved
robes finely incised with composite floral sprays and swirling clouds, the borders
incised with undulating waves and accented with tiny coral, lapis lazuli and
turquoise beads. His long eyebrows, short, curly beard and the stubble on his
shaved head are all finely delineated. The softly polished stone is of greyish-
beige tone with some areas of caramel-brown.
5¬ in. (14.3 cm.) high, silk stand and cloth box
1.9 lb. (842 g.)
$150,000-180,000
PROVENANCE:
Hunting Folger Deutsch Collection, Florida.
Christie's New York, 26 March 2003, lot 19.

美國重要私人珍藏
明末/清初 十七/十八世紀 白芙蓉雕阿氏多尊者坐像
來源:
Hunting Folger Deutsch 珍藏，佛羅里達州。
紐約佳士得, 2003年3月26日, 拍品編號19。

This magnificent and extremely rare figure most likely depicts Ajita, one of The
Sixteen Arhats, or advanced disciples, of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni.
In Chinese iconography, Ajita is traditionally shown with long eyebrows, hence
the name Changmei Luohan, or “the luohan with long eyebrows.”

The soapstone used for this exquisite figure is baifurong, a variety of furong
stone, ranging in color from white to pale creamy beige, found at the Jialiang
mountains, located about eight kilometers outside of Shoushan Village in
Fujian province. The large size of the precious material and the outstanding
quality of the carving distinguishes this figure as amongst the finest soapstone
carvings of 17th and 18th century. It would have been extremely difficult to
obtain a piece of baifurong stone of such large size and fine color that would
allow this luohan to be depicted with an integral naturalistic stand; typically,
the stands or bases of such figures are usually carved separately and from a
more common type of soapstone, such as gaoshan. It also required a carver of
tremendous skill to depict the thoughtful expression on the luohan's face, and
the intricate decoration on the robes, not to mention plan out the utilization of
the stone's material markings to enhance the details.
(additional views)
A smaller (7.8 cm.) soapstone figure of luohan holding a ruyi-scepter, but
seated with a tiger on a separately carved base, dated to 17th century,
formerly in the Marcel Lorber Collection, is illustrated by S. Moss in Between G. Tsang and H. Moss in Arts of the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pp.
Heaven and Earth: Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and 222-23, no. 135. A further smaller (8.2 cm.) example with a separately carved
Objects, London, 1988, no. 51. Another soapstone luohan shown holding a base, attributed to Zhou Bin, formerly in the collection of the Water, Pine and
ruyi-scepter without a base and also of smaller size (6 cm.) is illustrated by Stone Retreat, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 June 2016, lot 73.

此件阿氏多尊者造像以白芙蓉圓雕，石色晶瑩剔透，圓潤飽滿。阿氏多尊者俗稱長 主題與此尊者相近之例包括一件呈自在坐姿，手持如意，旁侍一虎，斷代為十七
眉羅漢，為十六羅漢中第十五位。此尊者呈自在坐姿，慈眉善目，眼神與觀者直接 世紀之壽山石羅漢及與其搭配之座(7.8公分)，載於 S. Moss 著《Between Heaven and
交流，兩道眉毛長垂及胸，嘴角微揚，一手執如意，一手撫膝，法衣衣褶層次分 Earth: Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects》，倫敦，1988
明，衣擺陰刻描金纏枝蓮纹，刀法細膩，鬼斧神工。 年，編號51。另一例手持如意但無座之壽山石羅漢(6公分)，載於 G. Tsang 及莫士撝
著《Arts of the Scholar’s Studio》，香港，1986年， 頁 222-23， 編號135。另可參考
有別於多數明清壽山石羅漢雕刻造像，此尊長眉羅漢坐于山岩之上，以一整塊白芙 一件為水松石山房主人（即Hugh Moss, 莫士撝）舊藏，傳周彬制壽山石雕嵌寶執芝
蓉石精雕而成，高14.3公分，重達842克，巧奪天工，一氣呵成，為目前僅知孤例。 羅漢坐像(8.2公分)， 於香港蘇富比拍賣, 2016年6月2日， 拍品編號 73。
本拍品相極佳，如羅漢手持如意部分和樹枝等細部均經精雕細琢，傳承至今數百年
仍能保持完好，這在傳承有緒的明清壽山石雕刻造像中極爲少見。此外，與其搭配
的老座子製作精細，可見原物主對此尊造像珍視有加。

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