Chinese jade luohan carving sells for $479,500 at Bonhams

Chinese jade luohan carving sells for $479,500 at Bonhams

The Fine Chinese Art auction saw a jade carving of a luohan sell well despite controversy

Bonhams came under fire from China this week, yet its Fine Chinese Art auction in London still saw strong results on November 9, with a jade luohan carving selling as top lot.

The planned auction of two jade pieces that were reportedly looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace in the 1800s saw Bonhams issue an apology to disgruntled Chinese officials, and the items pulled from the sale. Read more here.

Despite controversy surrounding the sale, the jade carving sold well

Despite this, another of the auction's jade items - an 18th century carving of a luohan - sold for 301,250 ($479,540).

Luohan is the Chineseword for an arhat, whichin Buddhism is someone who has followed the eightfold path and attained the four stages of enlightenment. These 18 original followers of Buddha are deemed protectors of the Buddhist faith and frequently appear in Chinese art.

The example at auction is carved from fine white jade and shows the luohan seated in a grotto ona traditional woven mat. A superbly carved piece, it stands 17cm highand shows the luohan reading next to a delicatewaterfall andintricately carvedwutong and willow trees.

The Vietnamese emperor abdicated and leftfor France, where he sold the incense burner

Also starring among the top lots of the sale was a "monumental" 19th century imperial incense burner. The piece was thought to have been gifted by the Qingdynastyto the last Vietnamese emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, Bao Dai (1913-1997), who, following his abdication,isbelieved to have sold it to the famous French singer Lucienne Suzanne Dhotelle. It sold for 181,250 ($288,601) against a 150,000-250,000 estimate.

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