Page 101 - March 17, 2020 Impotant Chinese Art, Sotheby's, New York

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PROPERTY OF A LADY Brilliantly carved with an exceptional aesthetic and intrinsic
A SOAPSTONE FIGURE OF A LUOHAN, charm, the present luohan bears the signature of Shangjun,
ATTRIBUTED TO ZHOU BIN one of the best known and most talented soapstone carvers
of the early Qing period. Zhou Bin, zi Shangjun, was a native
17TH / 18TH CENTURY of Zhangzhou in Fujian province, where large soapstone
quarries are located. Although textual information about him
superbly carved, the deity seated leaning slightly onto the
right hand with the left knee raised supporting the left hand is scarce, and his exact dates are unknown, he is believed
holding an open book, the face with a serene expression to have been active in the Kangxi period (1662-1722) and
to have been trained by Yang Yuxuan, another renowned
detailed with downcast eyes above a broad nose and a soapstone master. Fang Zonggui in Shoushanshi zhi
slightly upturned mouth, framed by a pair of pendulous
earlobes, the hair, eyes, and eyebrows finely incised and [Records of Shoushan Stone], Fuzhou, 1982, pp 77-8, notes
painted in black pigment, dressed in a loose robe open at the that Zhou’s works were always prized in artistic circles.
chest and draped in naturalistic folds, the fabric meticulously Four luohan belonging to the same set as the present figure
incised along the hem with meandering lotus scroll and have been previously auctioned, all of which came from the
inset with mother-of-pearl and coral, all above a rockwork same private collection. One depicted in meditation, incised
base finely incised on the top with a brocade pattern, the with an inscription dishiqizunzhe ruding Shangjun (The
underside with a vertical inscription reading dishisizunzhe seventeenth luohan in meditation, Shangjun), was recently
kanshu (The fourteenth luohan reading a book), followed by sold in these rooms, 23rd September 2020, lot 673; the
a two-character signature reading Shangjun, the stone of a second, holding a lingzhi, and inscribed to the underside
creamy white color variegated with some natural inclusions with dishiliuzunzhe zhilingzhi Shangjun (The sixteenth luohan
Height 3¼ in., 8.3 cm holding a lingzhi, Shangjun), was also sold in these rooms,
22nd September 2005, lot 60, and again in our Hong Kong
PROVENANCE rooms, 2nd June 2016, lot 73, from the Water, Pine and
Private Collection, acquired prior to 1993, and thence by Stone Retreat Collection; the third, holding a ruyi scepter,
descent. and 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
fourth, 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 base, 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.

◉ $ 100,000-150,000

十七 / 十八世紀 壽山石雕第十四尊者看書
像
《第十四尊者看書》《尚均》款

來源
私人收藏，得於1993年之前，此後家族傳承

198 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10644 199