AN INSCRIBED PALE CELADON JADE 'LUOHAN' BOULDER, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD | 清乾隆 青白玉御題詩羅漢山子

This boulder is boldly carved in deep relief with Vanavasin, one of the sixteen luohan. A Buddhist monk, whose name in Sanskrit means ‘rain’, Vanavasin is said to have reached enlightenment under a plantain tree. In the 18th century, depictions of luohan, close disciples of the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni, were very popular. Their distinctive iconography, each with exaggerated, almost grotesque features, originated with an influential rendition of each luohan by the famous late Tang (618-907) and Five Dynasties (907-960) monk and painter Guanxiu (823-912), who saw them appear this way in a dream. The Qianlong emperor, who saw these paintings during a tour to southern China, composed eulogies to each luohan.

Two jade boulders similarly carved with a luohan in a grotto, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, were included in the museum’s exhibition Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, cat. nos. 39 and 43; another from the De An Tang collection was included in the exhibition A Romance with Jade. From the De An Tang Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 33; two were sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 2003, lot 33, and 25th April 2004, lot 98; and another was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st May 1995, lot 801. See also a slightly smaller boulder with Panthaka, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2011, lot 2835.