A soapstone carving of a Luohan

The well-carved figure is seated on a separate rock, his right arm resting on his raised knee while his right hand supports his chin. In his left hand, on his lap, he is holding a jewel. The face has a meditative expression, with downcast eyes below the hair; the mustache and eyebrows are finely incised and painted in black pigment. He is dressed in a loose robe draped in naturalistic folds under a cape incised and gilded along the hem with gilt scrolling borders and floral roundels, inset with coloured stones and coral. A dragon, half covered below the folds of his robe, is climbing up his left arm and looking up at his master.

The stone is of an attractive greenish-brown colour with reddish areas.