Nine prayer beads are each hand-carved with two faces of Immortals (Luohan). One extra bead mentions ‘Shi Ba Luo Han (十八罗汉)’ which translates to ‘Eighteen Luohan’. The bead is also signed by the carver Zong Chang (忠昌) who resides in Suzhou. The carving is quite amusing and detailed. It dates from the latter part of the 20th century and the beads were carved from the kernel of a Chinese ‘gânlan’ fruit which is a very hard material. Total length approximately 31 cm. Bead length 2.1 cm. Diameter 1.8 cm.