 Standing Buddha Current and Past Exhibitions
16 STANDING BUDDHA.THAILAND.AYUTTHAYA PERIOD.17TH CENTURY.H. 87.5 CMS, 34 1/2 INS. A slender, elegant bronze figure of Buddha, standing with his feet slightly apart on a tiered pedestal inlaid with glass, his right hand raised in abhayamudra and the left pendant by his side, the face placid and smiling beneath a domed chignon rising to a tall flame finial; the sanghati with a broad belt and a central fold between the legs, covering both shoulders and descending to points at the hem, the image covered throughout by a thick layer of gilding.This captivating 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 sovereignties of Southeast Asia, attracting innumerable merchants and other visitors, not only from neighbouring Asian countries but also from Europe as well. This image is covered with multiple layers of gold leaf, a practice that still continues during worship in Thai temples. The pedestal on which it stands is contemporary with the piece and is firmly attached to the figure. Elaborate pedestals of this type are often mistakenly attributed to the 19th century Ratanakosin period - in fact they first appear in the 17th century: see cat. no. 48 in F. McGill et al, The Kingdom of Siam: The Art of Central Thailand, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2005. The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg has a similar figure – see no. 48 in State Hermitage Museum, Siamese Art of the 14th-19th centuries in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, 1997.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
5 STANDING BUDDHA.THAILAND.AYUTTHAYA PERIOD.16TH - 17TH CENTURY.H. 130 CMS, 51 INS. A magnificent carved, lacquered and gilded wooden figure of Buddha, his face placid and reflective beneath a domed chignon rising to the remains of a flame finial; his arms extended to hold an alms bowl and his sanghati flaring and covering both shoulders with a broad belt and a central fold between the legs, with an extensive covering of gilding and black lacquer throughout.This blissful, perfectly proportioned figure was sculpted during the middle part of Thailand’s Ayutthaya kingdom. For a brief history of Ayutthaya please see the entry for catalogue no. 16.For a similar large wooden figure in the renowned Jim Thompson collection, please see plate no. 71 in W. Warren and B. Brake, The House on the Klong: The Bangkok Home and Asian Art Collection of James Thompson, New York and Tokyo: Walker/Weatherhill, 1968.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 16.STANDING BUDDHA.LAOS. FROM THE VICINITY OF VIENTIANE.LATE 18TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURY.H. (INCLUDING FINIAL) 208 CMS, 82 INS.An immensely tall and lithe, gilded and lacquered teakwood figure of a standing Buddha atop a square pedestal, the raised smooth usnisha topped by a flame finial, the eyes inlaid with mother of pearl and half-closed in meditation, the face set with a serene expression; both arms pendant by his sides in the ‘calling for rain’ posture, wearing a long flaring dhoti with a centre pleat and secured with a plain belt. Laotian sculpture is rare, especially when it is sculpted in friable materials like wood, which often falls victim to humidity or to insects. The Laotian kingdom of Lan Xang or Lan Chang was established during the 14th century and ruled by Thais. Its northern capital of Luang Prabang was subjected to cultural influences from the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, while its southern capital, Vientiane, absorbed Khmer and Ayutthaya (Thai) motifs. For a related example please see fig. 398 in M. Girard-Geslan et al, Art of Southeast Asia, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 28.STANDING BUDDHA.LAOS, FROM THE VICINITY OF LUANG PRABANG.SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.H. (INCLUDING FINIAL) 95 CMS, 37 ½ INS A remarkable, carved and gilded wood figure of the Buddha, standing in double abhayamudra on a square pedestal, the face plump and benevolent beneath a raised chignon rising to a tall flame finial; the thin sanghati covering both shoulders and secured by a broad belt and a central fold between the legs.For more on Lao Buddhas, see catalogue nos. 4 to 8.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 30.STANDING BUDDHA.LAOS, FROM THE VICINITY OF LUANG PRABANG.SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.H. (EXCLUDING MODERN PLINTH) 151 CMS, 59 ½ INS .A carved, gilded and lacquered wood figure of Buddha on a flat square pedestal with both hands raised in abhaymudra, his raised usnisha topped by a flame finial, the eyes half closed and the face serene, wearing an ankle length sanghati with an elaborate belt and central pleat, a lotus motif at his navel. For more information on this type, please refer to the entry for catalogue nos. 4 to 8. For a related example from Vientiane, please see page 244 in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha: The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book Company, 2000.Note: The painted base is modern.
|  STANDING BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 8.STANDING BUDDHA.CAMBODIA OR VIETNAM, MEKONG DELTA.KHMER.PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD.ANGKOR BOREI (TAKEO). 7TH CENTURY.H. 87.5 CMS, 34 ½ INS.A serene, exquisitely carved grey sandstone figure of Buddha Sakyamuni standing with his feet apart, wearing a clinging, double-hemmed sanghati covering both shoulders, the face beatific and calm, his hair with large snail shell curls rising to a conical usnisha.Early Chinese writers refer to a maritime kingdom in Cambodia called Funan, its Mon-Khmer population profoundly affected by Indian influences. It extended along the coast of Indochina from the Gulf of Siam to central Vietnam. There is abundant archaeological evidence of a flourishing Funanese commercial society centered on the fertile Mekong Delta from the 1st century to the 6th century AD. Excavations at the port city of Oc-Eo in what is now southern Vietnam reveal that the town was served by a network of canals and was an important trade link between India and China. Ongoing excavations in southern Cambodia have revealed the existence of another important city near the present-day village of Angkor Borei. A group of inland kingdoms, vassals of Funan and known collectively to the Chinese as Chenla, flourished in the 6th and 7th centuries from southern Cambodia to southern Laos. By the beginning of the 7th century Chenla had overthrown Funan and founded the kingdom of Cambodia. The first stone inscriptions in the Khmer language and the first brick and stone Hindu temples in Cambodia date from the Chenla period.For a comparable sculpture see pl. 2 in Angkor et dix siècles d’art Khmer, Exhibition catalogue, Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997.PROVENANCE:Private Scottish collection.
|  STANDING AVALOKITESVARA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 20.STANDING AVALOKITESVARA.KHMER.ANGKOR PERIOD.BAYON STYLE.LATE 12TH – EARLY 13TH CENTURY.H. (INCLUDING TANG): 170 CMS, 67 INS.A monumental sandstone figure of a four-armed Avalokitesvara, the Lord of Infinite Compassion; muscular and powerful, the face beatific beneath a raised chignon bearing a seated figure of Buddha Amitabha, wearing a short pleated sampot secured by a belt embellished with lotus motifs and jewelled pendants, with broad fishtail pleats at the front and back, the upper left hand holding a sacred water vessel.These images are believed to represent the deified form of the Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-1218?). During King Jayavarman VII’s reign Mahayana Buddhism became the state religion, the Khmer empire reached its greatest extent- as far as the Thai border areas, the Champa kingdom of modern-day Vietnam and parts of Laos as well- and many of its greatest monuments were erected. The temples of Banteay Kdei, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Chmar and the great enclosure of Angkor Thom were all built during his reign.There is a fine example of a four-armed Avalokitesvara from Preah Khan (Angkor), of some 2.15 metres (7 feet) in height in the National Museum, Phnom Penh- the head is reproduced as fig. 526 in M. Girard-Geslan et al, Art of Southeast Asia, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998. The head and torso of a large example were exhibited at a 1994 exhibition in New York - see nos. 19 and 20 in M. Lerner, Ancient Khmer Sculpture, Chinese Porcelain Company exhibition catalogue, New York, 1994. PROVENANCE:Private English collection.Formerly in a Private Collection in Singapore from 1985.
|  Seated Buddha Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no.10.Seated Buddha.Northwest Pakistan or Afghanistan.Gandhara.4th - 5th century.H. 35 cm, 13 ¾ ins. A serene, smiling stucco figure of the Buddha seated with his hands in dhyanamudra; extensive traces of red pigment remaining.At the Jaulian monastery in Taxila, Northwest Pakistan are tiers of niches containing stucco figures of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and devotees in acts of worship or meditation. This image is reminiscent of the Jaulian style- see pl. 522-525 in Ingholt, H. and Lyons, I, Gandharan Art in Pakistan. New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.
|  SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
15 SEATED BUDDHA.BURMA.POST- PAGAN PERIOD.MID 15TH – EARLY 17TH CENTURY.H. 89 CMS, 35 INS.A large wood figure of Buddha, seated upon a double lotus pedestal with his right hand lowered in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of summoning the earth to witness) and his left resting in his lap; the face stately but benign beneath an usnisha tapering to a flame finial; a rectangular opening on the back of the pedestal perhaps made for the concealment of relics. Age determined by University of Arizona Radiocarbon-14 test as 1448 - 1632 AD (95% certainty).This Buddha is very much in the Pagan style but the radiocarbon test reveals that it was made several centuries later. There are a number of examples of later images with a lingering Pagan influence; the figures tend to me more slender and somewhat ‘elongated’. For a later example in bronze in the British Museum, see fig. 10, page 62 in Donald Stadtner (ed.), The Art of Burma: New Studies, Mumbai: Marg Publications, 1999. For a second example in the Pagan Museum see fig. 285 in M. Girard-Geslan et al, Art of Southeast Asia, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1998.
|  SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 15.SEATED BUDDHA.LAOS, PROBABLY FROM UDOMXAI PROVINCE, NORTH OF LUANG PRABANG.SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.H. (INCLUDING FINIAL). 57 CMS, 22 ½ INS. A highly unusual polychromed wood figure of the Buddha, seated in padmasana on a raised lotus pedestal, his hands resting in dhyanamudra, the face meditative and serene beneath a raised chignon formed of ridges arranged in lines, crowned by a flame usnisha; the facial details carefully delineated in black, red and flesh-coloured pigments, wearing a sanghati with simple pleats and a long, central sash falling to the waist.The careful manner in which this sculpture has been decorated, not unlike Sri Lankan Buddhas of the period, with multiple layers of paint, suggests that it might once have been a treasured image in a family shrine. Another image, offered as catalogue no. 45, was almost certainly created and decorated by the same hand. For a related example from Vientiane - albeit lacking its elaborate decoration - please see pages 243 (top left) in S. Lopetcharat, Lao Buddha: The Image and Its History, Bangkok: Siam International Book Company, 2000.
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