A PALE CELADON JADE ‘LUOHAN IN A GROTTO’ BOULDER, QIANLONG PERIOD

拍品描述

A PALE CELADON JADE ‘LUOHAN IN A GROTTO’ BOULDER, QIANLONG PERIOD China, 1736-1795. Finely carved in the round, the pebble shaped as a precipitous mountain, one side with a deep grotto sheltering an emaciated luohan seated in meditation beside a gnarled pine tree, while on the other a pavilion rises amid layered rockwork. The finely polished, translucent stone is of an attractive pale celadon tone with icy white inclusions and light brown veining. Dimensions: Height 13.3 cm This jade sculpture depicts an arhat, a Buddhist adept who attained enlightenment, meditating inside a rocky cave. Although they are considered holy in India, arhats only became figures of devotion when Buddhism spread to Tibet. Amongst these figures, a group of sixteen has been singled out as the most revered, and as Tibetan Buddhism was adopted by the Qing Imperial court to be the primary religion, these sixteen figures were frequently depicted in different media. The present lot belongs to a group of closely related jade carvings carved with a luohan in a mountain grotto. During the Qianlong reign, the Emperor requested that jade mountains, as well as plaques and panels with mountainous landscapes, should take their artistic influence from the work of famous painters. The subject's popularity during this period may have been further boosted by a woodblock print of a jade carving of a luohan amongst rocks from the Gu yu tu pu, attributed to the Southern Song period, but 18th century, and illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade, 1995, p. 411, fig. 2. Literature comparison: Compare a related jade rocky crag with seated arhat, dated 18th century, 23.5 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1974.356.55. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 2022, lot 279 Price: USD 176,400 or approx. EUR 171,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of carving, stone, and subject. Note the size (21 cm), reign mark, and dating inscription. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 23 September 2020, lot 653 Price: USD 100,800 or approx. EUR 117,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and size (12.7 cm) as well as the related manner of carving and stone.

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