G756.3 ALABASTER FIGURE OF THE ASCETIC MONK SUMEDHA OFFERING HIMSELF TO DIPANKARA BUDDHA AS A BRIDGE OVER THE MUD

BURMA

18^TH – 19^TH CENTURY

H. 53 CMS, 21 INS

A remarkable, carved cream alabaster figure of the monk Sumedha, his hands clasped above his head in a gesture of genuflection, his chignon with striated lines and his face with a calm meditative expression.

Sumedha was an ascetic living at the time of the historical Buddha. He is usually depicted lying in front of a standing Buddha image, face towards the ground. This represents the celebrated episode of Sumedha offering his body to the Buddha Dipankara to cross a muddy road. (Dipankara, is the first of the Twenty-eight Buddhas of the Past). This story has been very popular in Burma since the Pagan period where it was often represented in wall paintings.

For a related figure of Sumedha in the Northern Illinois University, Konrad and Sarah Bekker Collection, please see the following link:

Sumedha offering himself to Dipankara Buddha as a bridge over the mud (centerforburmastudies.com)

Provenance: From a collection in the West of England.

Formerly at Old Enton, Godalming, Surrey from circa 1990, thence by descent.