TORONTO.- A.H. Wilkens Auctions & Appraisals presents a monumental and important collection of 100 Japanese scroll paintings of Five Hundred Lohans, by Morimoto Kōchō 森本後凋 （成卿） circa 1887-1888, after 12th century Chinese Song dynasty originals. These paintings are careful and attractive representations of some of the greatest extant works of Chinese Lohan painting, and exemplifies the well documented tradition of copying great works from the past as both artistic and devotional practice.
The present collection is the only other complete set of Five Hundred Lohans to exist in its entirety, therefore it is of tremendous historic value and rarity. It is a document of the piety of twelfth-century Chinese lay Buddhists and the wave of Chinese cultural influence that accompanied the transmission of Zen to Japan, and the upheavals that shook the Japanese Buddhist establishment in the Meiji period. Though only about one century old, the story of this collection already spans China, Japan, the United States, and Canada.
A.H. Wilkens will offer this collection with Shambhala. Headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Shambhala is a non-profit founded by Tibetan Buddhist master Trungpa Rinpoche and instrumental in bringing Buddhism to the West. It is currently led by his heir Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, author of the bestselling Turning the Mind Into an Ally, and the prize-winning Ruling Your World. Shambhala has over 225 centres worldwide, and proceeds will go to benefit the activities of Shambhala’s global community of those inspired by the principle that every human being has the nature of basic goodness. This shared human dignity, inherent in ourselves and society, can be awakened through meditation practice and contemplative arts.
The 100 paintings on silk are mounted as traditional hanging scrolls, and are contained in 20 Japanese wooden tomobako boxes. Overall size of scroll with mounting: 160 x 62cm (63 x 24.5 in.) Overall size without mounting: 108 x 52cm (42.5 x 20.5 in.) All 100 scrolls will be offered as one lot in A.H. Wilkens’ upcoming 2017 June Catalogue Auction, together with great examples of porcelain, bronze, jade, painting, rubbing, furniture, and other fine and decorative items.
