A pale celadon jade 'Lohan' boulder carving Qing dynasty, 18th / 19th century

the vertically oriented boulder crisply carved as a grotto, the Eighteenth Lohan in rajalilasana, his robe draped loosely over his abdomen, shaded by a  paulownia tree, his white tiger dutifully recumbent below him and next to a small swirl of rushing water, set against craggy rockwork carved in the round, the reverse with a tall pine tree rising to the peak of the boulder, a small lingzhi spray at the bottom in front of a rushing stream, of even translucent tone with a hint of pale celadon, the bottom with white inclusions and dark veining, some cleverly worked into the carving

Mrs. Clinton L. Walker, Piedmont, CA (according to label).

Jade carvings depicting single Lohan figures among grottos were popular subjects during the Qing dynasty. See a jade carving of the Ninth Lohan in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 29:19. Rawson notes that the popularity of the subject was possibly stimulated by an 18th century wood block print Gu Yu Tu Pu ('Collection of Ancient Jade Drawing'), ibid. p. 411.

Compare a slightly taller boulder with a Lohan, also attributed to the 18th / 19th century, formerly in the collection of the T.B. Walker Foundation, sold in these rooms, 20th October 1988, lot 191. An inscribed carving of the Lohan Vanavasa with Qianlong mark and of the period, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 2003, lot 33. Perhaps the most extraordinary Lohan and grotto jade carving is the Qianlong period example of the Sixteen Lohan seated together in a large mountain, also sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 32.