A CAST-IRON FIGURE OF PINDOLA DATED 23RD YEAR OF THE REIGN OF CHENGHUA, CORRESPONDING TO 1487

the tiger-taming luohan, portrayed seated with legs hidden beneath robes, decorated with raised lines forming scrolling leaves, cradling a tiger in his lap, in front of a hu tablet, the stern face with upturned eyes beneath curly eyebrows, flanked by elongated ears, the back with an inscription listing the donors and the date the figure was commissioned

Sotheby’s New York, 17th/18th October 1974, lot 320.
Christie’s New York, 24th March 2004, lot 87.
Bonhams San Francisco, 18th June 2007, lot 6223.

Jin Shen, Zhongguo lida jinian foxiang tudian, Beijing, 1995, pl. 325.

There are losses to the paint overall. There is a chip to the front of the robe, and a crack to the back running through the inscription. Both shoulders with casting flaws.
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The inscription may be translated as: Male devotee Li Si and female devotee nee Jin, who reside at the street to the east of the earth god shrine in West Ying district in Dingzhou county, Zhiding prefecture, Zhili province, made a vow to have a luohan  image made for the Kaihua Temple of Zhuhua village. Joining them in this vow are monks Yihe, Shanqing and Zhanrang.  Made on the first day of the ninth month during the 23rd year of the reign of Chenghua.

This sculpture appears to belong to a set of figures made for the Kaihua temple in 1487 which were commissioned by wealthy members of the community; a figure of Buddha possibly made for the same temple, with a similar inscription naming its donor as Miao Yuan, was sold in these rooms, 23rd September 1997, lot 170; and another commissioned by Wangcheng Yu, was sold at Christie’s London, 13th December 1976, lot 4. Compare also a cast-iron figure of this type of a luohan, dated 1482, sold in these rooms, 20th March 1976, lot 4; and another dated to 1501, sold at Christie’s London, 6th November 2007, lot 117.