A LIMESTONE FRAGMENTARY RELIEF OF A LUOHAN TANG DYNASTY

carved in soft rounded volumes as a luohan head truncated at the neck, the fleshy face rendered turned to one side and framed by a single pendulous earlobe, with eyes wide open below thick arching brows bearing an expression of alert concentration, the buff coloured stone with traces of brown pigment and gilt paint, metal stand

Previously in the collection of Doctor V., acquired in the 1980s.

This fragment of a luohan is notable for its sensitive modelling with a fleshy face, eyes wide opened and full lips that express kindness and benevolence.  Revered by followers of Chan Buddhism, luohan are saintly figures who are believed to have attained enlightenment, but have chosen to remain engaged in the world, postponing nirvana, in order to aid all sentient beings. Luohan receive enlightenment through instruction, hence they are often portrayed listing to the Buddha’s teachings.

The individualistic traits of this fragment are characteristic of the Tang style at the Longmen complex located south of Luoyang, as seen on a group of stone carvings of in the Kanjing temple. This cave temple, which was sponsored by Empress Wu between 690 and 704, contains twenty-nine life-size relief carvings of these patriarchs, shown interacting with each other and forming a procession around the perimeter for the cave, and are illustrated in situ in Complete Collection of Chinese Art. Sculpture, vol. 11, pls. 197-202, together with two nuns carvings from the Wanfotong ('Ten Thousand Buddha Caves') also at Longmen, pl. 137. See also a white marble sculpture of a standing luohan rendered with similar traits, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated in Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, New York, 1970, vol. 2, pl. 371a.