Burmese Cast Bronze Figure of an Ascetic Elderly Man (One of the Buddha’s Four Omens)

This extraordinary figure of an elderly man was cast in bronze in 19th century Burma. It shows a thin, elderly man, hunched over and with his rib-cage showing. Barefooted, he wears a longyi around his waist and a topknot on his head. The longyi has been engraved with a checkered design. The curvature of the hermit’s body is pronounced – almost painful – but lends a beautiful, sculptural air to the image.

But the most extraordinary aspect of this image is the face of the man. It is wizened, quizzical and full of character, and a marvellous example of the heights to which Burmese lost-wax metal casting could achieve.

Almost certainly, the image is one of the Four Omens (also called the Four Sights) which the Buddha-to-be sees before he abandons his palace. The four sights are the things he sees which introduces him to the realities of suffering – he sees age, sickness, death, and a monk.

The image is attached to a separately cast bronze stand.

Unfortunately, the right hand of the image has been lost. This would have held a walking cane or stick that would have emerge from near the figure’s right foot. The man’s eyes are of wax or shell to provide a whites and black pupils, although the detail of the left eye is now missing. Despite these old losses, the image is still a fine and rare example.

A similar but wooden image is illustrated in Somkiart Lopetcharat (2007).