Gilt lacquered bronze figure of a Luohan

Yuan - early Ming dynasty, 14th - 15th century

This gilt lacquered bronze luohan – an enlightened being and Buddhist disciple - was most likely one of a set of sixteen or eighteen, intended to be placed in a prescribed order on the east and west walls of a Buddhist hall, within a temple complex. His intense expression of meditative concentration would have been intended to serve as an exemplar, to help others on their spiritual journey.