Burmese Pegu Bronze of a Sculptor Carving an Elephant by by Maung San Pe

This fine, well-observed cast bronze shows a Burmese carver of wood sitting before an image of an elephant he is in the process of carving.

The image is attached to its original rectangular, wooden base. Most of these types of bronzes are not signed by the artist but this example is: it is signed ‘MG SAN PE / PEGU’ or Maung San Pe of Pegu.

The image is an excellent record of a traditional Burmese artisan from the period. Burmese crafts had reached a very high point and Burmese artisans were among the finest in Asia both in terms of their skill and their broad scope.

The physique of the carver is modelled finely. He is shown holding a chisel and a mallet. There is a tray of other chisels beside him.

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 example here, with its sense of proportion, realism and attention to detail is a minor masterpiece 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 fine condition.  The bronze has a dark, brown patina.

 

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