Page 152 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

The present lot belongs to an important group of closely related jade ‘The Fourth Luohan, Kalika, hearing it he is enlightened, with broad
carvings carved with a luohan in a mountain grotto. The subject matter heart and stout body, the sweet fragrance reaches his chants, how
may have derived from a woodblock print on the theme, printed in narrow how broad, with both fingers pointing, each ringing the gold
the 18th century catalogue Gu yu tu pu (古玉圖譜), attributed to the bell, that is ringing and quiet, silent and not silent’.
Southern Song dynasty. The luohans depicted in the present lot may
be identified as Angaja and Kalika, two of the Sixteen Luohans. For related examples of jade ‘luohan’ boulders carved with
inscriptions see one from the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Buddhism as the foremost state religion during the Qing dynasty with the inscription denoting the luohan Cūdapanthaka, illustrated
received great attention during the reign of the Qianlong emperor. The in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic
emperor ordered the Court painter Ding Guanpeng (1708-1771) to and Pictorial Jades of the Qing Court, Taipei, 1997, p.148, fig.43;
paint the sixteen luohans after the original set by Guanxiu (823-912) another example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The
that he had seen during his visit to Hangzhou in 1757. Importantly, the Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware
inscriptions on the jade boulder are the same as on the paintings by (II), Shanghai, 2008, p.76, no.56; two further examples, one un-
Ding Guanpeng. One side is inscribed: inscribed but of similar jade stone and inclusions, 17th/18th century,
and another with an inscription, 18th century, in the British Museum,
第一阿迎阿機達尊者, 龎眉皓首, 赤腳露肘, 一亦不立, 二復何有, 左執 London, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic
提鑪, 香云無量, 以拂拂之, 是真供養 to the Qing, London, 1995, pp.409-410, no.29:19 and fig.1; and
one inscribed and carved with the luohan Kanaka, 18th century, from
Which may be translated as: the Hebert R. Bishop Collection, is in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York (acc.no.02.18.640). See also a related jade ‘luohan’
‘The First Luohan, Angaja, with long eyebrows and bright faced, with inscribed boulder, Qianlong, illustrated by R.Kerr, et al., Chinese
bare feet and elbows revealed, if one does not stand, how can the Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection, Surrey, 2011, pl.177.
other two stand, to the left the incense burner, fragrant clouds without
limit, blowing gently, this is the true way to make offerings’. Compare with a related but larger inscribed pale green and russet jade
‘luohan’ boulder, Qianlong, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong,
The other side is inscribed: 27 November 2018, lot 77. See also a related celadon jade ‘luohan’
inscribed boulder, Qing dynasty, illustrated by R.Keverne, ed., Jade,
第四嘎禮嘎尊者, 聞之吾參, 心廣體胖, 芬及須歌, 何隘何寬, 雙手指端, London, 1995, p.145, fig.41., which was later sold at Sotheby’s New
各振金鈴, 即聲即寂, 非寂非聲 York, 10 September 2019, lot 17.

Ding Guanpeng, ‘Seventeen Paintings of
Buddha and Luohans’, the 21st year of the
Qianlong reign corresponding to 1756;
image courtesy of Shenyang Palace Museum

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