QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY, ‘YUXUAN’ MARK BY YANG YUXUAN
HEIGHT: 6.8CM
The luohan is depicted meditating seated cross-legged, his robe loosely draped around the body and slipped beneath his legs while his two hands are tucked inside the folds of one sleeve. The edges of the robe are incised with a scrolling band of lotus and inlaid with small beads of pearl and other semi-precious stones. The artist’s signature ‘Yuxuan’ is inscribed vertically on the centre of the luohan’s back. The soapstone is semi-translucent and cream in colour.
Active in the Fujian Province during the Kangxi reign (1662-1722), Yang Yuxuan, also known as Yang Ji, was one of the most revered and influential stone carvers of his time and is well-known for his exceptional quality soapstone carvings of figures and animals.
SIMILAR EXAMPLE
An example of a luohan by Yang Yuxuan with a similar mark carved on the back is illustrated in Arts of the Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pp. 86-87, Catalogue No. 45
十七世紀壽山石羅漢「玉琁」款
