Lidded Ginger Jar Depicting 18 Lohan

Over a thousand years ago the portraits of Buddha’s legendary disciples, the eighteen Lohan, were painted by a Chinese monk named Guan Xiu. However, they didn’t exactly sit for their portrait. Instead, the monk faithfully reproduced on paper what he saw in a dream. His portraits appeared eccentric. Many of the figures had distorted, exaggerated expressions including large heads, hanging cheeks and high noses; most were unkempt, appearing almost like vagabonds. It was not the noblest depiction imaginable, but it became the definitive way Lohan are portrayed, even to this day.

Enameled copper jar from Qing Dynasty

Featured is an enameled ginger jar covered with the portraits of the Eighteen Lohan. It was expertly crafted over one hundred years ago, long after Buddha’s disciples lived and long past Guan Xiu’s dream. Look closely at the jar. The characters are animated. Their attendance elevates the jar’s functional, rather mundane purpose. Why is this so? How can portraits first rendered so long ago still have such charisma, and why do they appear on the jar? Perhaps it’s to remind us that knowledge and wisdom found and exercised in everyday life will never go out of style.

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