WALKING BUDDHA.

LAOS, LUANG PRABANG AREA.

SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

H. (INCLUDING BASE) 144.8 CMS, 57 INS.

H. (BUDDHA ONLY) 108 CMS, 42 ˝ INS.

A gilded and black lacquered Buddha of slender form standing on an hourglass shaped base, the left hand raised in abhayamudra and the right pendant by his side, his face tranquil beneath a raised chignon ascending to a flame finial with lotus petals around its base.

The fully in-the-round walking Buddha originated in Sukhothai, Central Thailand, in the 14th century, probably deriving from 12th century bas-reliefs at Pagan, Burma and in Sri Lanka. It is said to represent the Buddha Sakyamuni in the third week following his Enlightenment, when he walked back and forth planning his future, but another interpretation is that it represents his descent from the Tavatimsha Heaven, to which he had risen in order to preach to his mother.

For a Sukothai prototype walking Buddha, see cat. no. 59 in H.W. Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1997. For an example of a walking Buddha from Laos, see page 228 in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha: The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book Company, 2000.