Lot 962. A rare and finely carved pale greenish-white jade carving of Damo in a grotto, Qing dynasty (1644-1911); 8 in. (20.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The front is well and deeply carved with Damo shown seated in contemplation on a mat on the ledge of a cave with his hands hidden within the sleeves of his robe and wearing a cowl, with his shoes to one side and his gnarled staff tucked behind him, a pine tree grows just beyond the cave opening and a lengthy inscription that refers to the scene is carved on the flat rock face above. The reverse is carved with further layered rock faces. The pale greenish-white stone has areas of opaque white mottling on the reverse. 

Provenance: Acquired before 1950 and thence by descent within the family.

Note: The figure shown seated in contemplation represents the historical monk known as Damo in China, Daruma in Japan and Bodhidharma in India, whose teachings eventually became the foundation of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Damo is often depicted standing barefoot on a reed leaf, representing the episode when he crossed the Yangtze River in this manner to evade pursuers. But here he is shown seated in contemplation in a cave, referring to the nine years Damo spent in a cave, facing a wall and meditating. And the inscription carved on the piece is an imperial poem by Emperor Qianlong titled Damo mian bi tu (Meditation of Damo), which aptly describes the scene (Fig.1). This representation is also seen in Dehua figures of Damo, where he is shown seated on a mat with his robe pulled around him in a manner similar to that of the present figure. These Dehua figures include one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by Denise P. Leidy, Donna Strahan, et al., Wisdom Embodied, Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 162, and another sold at Christie's New York, 20 March 2014, lot 162.

Fig.1 Qing Gaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji (Anthology of Imperial Qianlong Poems), Yuzhi Shi San Ji (Imperial Poems, vol. 3), juan 54, p. 11.

The present carving is related to other jade carvings that show a luohan seated in a grotto or carved in the side of a mountain. Carvings of this type are often of late Ming or early Qing date. Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pp. 410-11, notes that these carvings may have been inspired by a woodblock print in the eighteenth-century catalogue, Gu yu tu pu, illustrated p. 411, fig. 2, where a luohan (possibly Damo) is shown seated on a mat in a setting of rocks and clouds. Rawson goes on to mention the "close relationship" of these jade carvings to the painting tradition that showed luohans "who retreated to meditate in mountainous landscapes". These paintings sometimes included an inscription commenting on the scene, a practice that most likely influenced the jade carvers who sometimes included an inscription on a smooth rock face of the mountainside. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Jade Carvings from Private Collections, New York, 13 September 2018.