A gilt-bronze figure of the Luohan Vajriputra, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

Collection of Paul Wegener (1874–1948).

Berlin Ernst Karl Becker, Berlin, 29th - 30th November 1950, lot 793.

Collection of Mlle Natacha Rambova (1897-1966).

Estate of Professor Donald P. Hansen, New York.

Sotheby's New York, 21st September 2007, lot 48.

Sotheby's New York, 18th September 2023, lot 133.

This finely cast and gilded figure, in which the facial expression is depicted with exceptional naturalism, represents Vajriputra, one of the Sixteen Luohan, considered to be the Elders of Buddhism and students of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni.

This is from a particularly fine and expressive Qianlong series of Luohan. This luohan and four others now preserved in the Philadelphia Museum of Art were originally in the collection of the German actor and director Paul Wegener (1874-1948), a pioneer in cinema whose 1916 film Der Yoghi revealed his interest in Asian religions, and later in the collection of Natacha Rambova (1897-1966). The four in the Philadelphia Museum were gifted by her in 1963, accession nos. 1963-155-7, 1963-155-8, 1963-155-9, 1963-155-10. See also other Luohan from the series sold in these rooms, 18th September 2023, lot 134, 24th March 2011, lots 74 and 75 (previously sold 22nd September 2000, lot 23, sometime collection of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II).

A series depicting the Luohan would often comprise twenty-five bronzes altogether in keeping with post-16th century Sino-Tibetan tradition, with the Sixteen Great Luohan together with Dharmatala and Hvashang, Buddha Shakyamuni and his principal disciples Maudgalyayana and Shariputra, and the Four Guardians of the Directions, Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Virudhaka and Dhritarashtra.

The sculpture is distinguished by exquisite quality, poise and freedom of expression in common with the Rambova and Vanderbilt sculptures, with related cushion design and idiosyncratic rendering of the robes with deep folds and a loose collar. Typical of bronzes from the Qianlong period, the face and hands are not fire-gilded but painted with matte gold to create a naturalistic effect in contrast with the burnished mercury gilding of the robes and throne cushions.

Natacha Rambova (1897-1966), the original owner of the Luohan and the four that are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, was originally called Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy Hudnut. She was a silent film actress, costume and set designer, director, amateur Egyptologist, collector of Egyptian and Asian Art. She married matinee idol Rudolph Valentino, having met on the innovative Art Deco set she designed for the movie Camille, 1921.