Burmese Pegu Bronze of a Teak-Logging Elephant & Driver

This fine cast bronze shows an elephant with rider in Burmese dress dragging a massive teak log behind it. The log is attached to the elephant by a pair of chains.

The group is attached to the original rectangular, wooden base.

The elephant is well cast and keenly observed and is among the higher quality examples of this type of casting, as are the other elements of this bronze. The elephant has short, but well-defined tusks in the manner of an Asian elephant, and the detail of the log with all the lines and notches in its bark are well cast.

The casters of Pegu, located near to Rangoon, produced finely detailed bronzes of local people engaged in everyday activities, such as this example. Such sculptures emerged at the same time as Burmese painters adopted Western-style realism. Their naturalistic forms drew on European techniques as well as Burmese religious statuary.  Pegu bronzes made mostly for the local expatriate market were exhibited at the various British Empire Exhibitions held in the 1920s and 1930s, both in London but also in India (from where Burma was administered during colonial rule) and Rangoon itself.

Figurines such as these were bought by British administrators and their families in Burma as souvenirs and gifts for friends on their return home. As Fraser Lu (1994, p. 143) says, some examples, especially later examples, barely rise above tourist kitsch, but others, such as the the example here, with its sense of proportion, realism and attention to detail is a minor masterpieces of bronze casting. Such bronzes are testament to the ingenuity and flexibility of Burma’s master craftsmen during the colonial era who were able to switch between producing high quality items for local as well as expatriate consumption.

The sculpture here is beautiful, and in fine condition. Originally, the rider might have held aloft a whip or something similar. The bronze has a dark, brown patina.

 

Above: Two photographs of a collection of Pegu bronzes we previously sold to Singapore’s National Gallery, as displayed in the National Gallery.