paintwork, with modern base China, Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)This early Buddhist sculpture portrays a luohan in a standing posture with both hands folded in prayer in front of his chest. The pious immortal wears a long monk robe, tied with a belt at his left shoulder. Figures of luohan rose in popularity during the Song dynasty, due to divisions within Buddhism that lead to the establishment of different schools. The luohan being direct disciples of the Buddha, formed a connection between the patriarchs of the different schools and the Buddha, by allowing the patriarchs to claim descent through a lineage leading back to these original disciples. Depictions of luohans fall into two groups. The first group are depicted with clearly what Chinese artists considered Indian features, such as bushy beards, curly hair, big eyes beneath prominent brows and large noses. The second group more closely resemble Chinese scholars, except that they have shaved heads and wear monks' robes.The present lot clearly belongs to the second group. With his shaven head and elongated earlobes, he is clearly a monk, but his refined facial features, elegant posture, with long-sleeved robe and pointed shoes more closely resemble figures of scholar's popular during the Yuan and early Ming dynasty. Shape: Figural Weight: approx. 480 grams (without the base) Dimensions: total height 38 cm, height without the base is 36 cm Condition: shows extensive traces of age such as loss to the gesso coating and paintwork, repaired breakages to hands and backside Provenance: American private collectionAuction results comparison: For a related Luohan sculpture of larger scale see Bonhams, CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 19 March 2018, NEW YORK, lot 8185. 元代木雕羅漢像輕木上石膏底料,色彩殘餘,現代底座 中國,元代(1279-1368)造型:人物造像 重量:約480 克 (不含底座) 尺寸:縂高 38 厘米,不含底座 36 厘米 品相:年代痕跡明顯,石膏塗層和彩繪局部磨損,手和背部破損処已修復 來源:美國私人收藏