THAILAND, CHIENG SEN PERIOD, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A FINE BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA
THAILAND, CHIENG SEN PERIOD, 16TH CENTURY
Seated in sattvasana on pedestal, his right hand in bhumisparshamudra the left resting on his lap, wearing samghati leaving his right shoulder bare, his face with solemn expression, mother-of-pearl inlaid downcast eyes below arched eyebrows, pierced elongated earlobes, curled hair rising into the ushnisha surmounted by a lotus bud
33 in. (84 cm.) high

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This imposing bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni shows him in one of the most popular postures in Thailand, namely theconqueror of the demon Mara or god of desire (maravijaya). His muscular body places this image in the art school of northern Thailand. The lotus bud topping his head emphasises this attribution. Most likely the figure was created in the Chieng Sen Region in the Lan Na kingdom during the sixteenth century. A comparable Buddha is depicted by Carol Stratton in her Buddhist Sculptures of Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai, 2004, p. 278, fig. 9.87.

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