AN EXCEPTIONAL SOAPSTONE FIGURE OF A LUOHAN BY ZHOU BIN QING DYNASTY, 17TH - 18TH CENTURY

seated on a quatrefoil cushion, leaning onto the left hand with the right knee raised at the opposite side of the body, the right hand gesturing in front of the chest, the body draped in loose robes fluttering upward at the hem lines, the fabrics finely incised with the brocade patterns gilt, the head bowed and rising to a high dome, the lips, eyes, and hair pigmented for naturalistic effect, the cushion incised with intricate patterns and the recessed lines filled-in with gilt and silver, the carpet spread over a conforming rock base and pierced with two holes for an attachment, the underside of the rock incised and gilt Gumin Zhong Bin Shangjunshi zhi, the stone of the figure a pale creamy orange, the stone of the base a translucent graphite-gray
Height 4 3/8 in., 11.1 cm

Provenance:
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978), acquired by 1964.