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G736 A LACQUERED AND GILDED WOOD STANDING BUDDHA
CAMBODIA
POST-ANGKOR PERIOD
MID-19TH CENTURY
H. 95.5 CMS, 37 ½ INS
A tall, subtle and understated lacquered and gilded wood figure of the Buddha, with both hands raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of dispelling fear), the face calm and serene beneath a tiered chignon rising to a lotus knop finial; the ankle-length sanghati covering both shoulders and the surface embellished beneath the lacquer with lotus flowers.
Few wooden images remain from this period because of the ravages of time and insects. This example has survived in excellent condition, most likely because of the insect repelling qualities of the lacquer with which it is coated.
For a discussion of Post-Angkor wooden Buddhas, see page 174 in M. Giteau, Khmer Sculpture and the Angkor Civilisation, London: Thames and Hudson, 1965. Giteau writes that the figures are mostly of Koki wood (Hopea species).
The National Museum, Phnom Penh has a number of similar figures – see, for example, pp 137-139 in M. Giteau and D. Guéret, Khmer Art: The Civilisations of Angkor, Paris: ASA Editions, 1997. See also p. 27 in Khun Samen, Post-Angkorian Buddha, Exhibition catalogue, National Museum, Phnom Penh, 2000.
PROVENANCE: From an old private Belgian collection. Reportedly purchased in The Netherlands before 1970.