G690 BRONZE STANDING BUDDHA
THAILAND
AYUTTHAYA PERIOD
18TH CENTURY
MOUNTED ON AN ATTRACTIVE POLISHED HARDWOOD BASE
H. 83 CMS, 32 ½ INS
H. INCLUDING WOODEN BASE 100 CMS, 39 ½ INS

A large, finely sculpted bronze figure of Buddha, standing on an ornate tiered pedestal with his feet slightly apart and both hands raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of dispelling fear), the face tranquil and smiling beneath a domed chignon rising to a tall flame finial; the sanghati covering both shoulders with a broad belt and a central fold between the legs; covered with extensive traces of gilding and black lacquer.

This exquisite figure was created during the period of Thailand’s Ayutthaya Kingdom. The kingdom of Ayutthaya, established by King U Thong in 1350 in the Chao Phraya River basin to the north of Bangkok was, until the Burmese attacked and burned its capital in 1767, one of the richest and most enduring kingdoms of Southeast Asia, attracting innumerable merchants and other visitors, not only from neighbouring Asian countries but also from Europe as well. Colossal stone and stucco images of Buddha characterise the artistic creations of the early Ayutthaya period.

The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg has a bronze standing Buddha in similar style – see cat. no. 48 in State Hermitage Museum, Siamese Art of the 14th-19th centuries in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, 1997.

Provenance: Private English collection.