Gilded Bronze Seated Buddha, Rattanakosin Period, Bangkok, Thailand, 19th century

Large, Gilded Bronze Seated Buddha

This finely-cast image of the Buddha dressed as a prince with a high-tiered crown, princely jewellery and robes, sits cross-legged on a tiered throne. The image’s right hand holds an alms bowl; his left rests on his lap – a pose that symbolises compassion and caring for all beings. It is decorated with leaping kranok (flame) elements, for example such elements leap from the knees, from the ears, and from the shoulders.

It is of cast bronze and has been gilded (gold plated) over red and black lacquer undercoats.

There are two lugs at the back of the image, possibly to secure it to a wall.

A similar but far smaller crowned Buddha is in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, and illustrated in Hermitage (1997, p. 149).

Most Buddha images have a cranial protuberance but as with the case with the example here, those of the second-half of the nineteenth century sometimes lack them. This practice arose in the reign of King Rama IV(1851-1868) during which the Kingdom became more exposed to European influence and there was an attempt to humanise the Buddha. Instead of the protuberance, there is a spired crown.

The image is in fine condition and is without any losses to the casting.

Hermitage, Siamese Art of the 14th-19th Centuries in the Hermitage, Slavia Art Books, 2007.

Tingley, N.,

Doris Duke: The Southeast Asian Art Collection, The Foundation for Southeast Asian Art and Culture, 2003.

UK art market