Thai Ayutthaya Bronze Standing Buddha

This well-cast, slender bronze figure of the standing Buddha shows the image with the right hand raised in the gesture of fearlessness or abhaya mudra, and his left by his side holding the edge of his long, ankle-length, flared robe. The Buddha wears heavy earrings from extended lobes, and wears a flared crown with an usnisa in the form of a stupa.

The body is elongated as are the arms, legs and fingers, which are particularly slender, elegant and long. The toes are squared.

A large chest pendant is very much of the Ayutthaya period, and mirrors the large, gold royal regalia chest pendants found in the crypts at temples at Ayutthaya such as Wat Mahathat where they were interred as offerings.

The symmetrical styling of this Buddha very much is that of the Ayutthaya period of the 16th century, and suggests a standardisation that accompanied the shift to absolutism and a concentration of royal power during the reign of King Naresuan (r. 1590-1605).

The image of the crowned Buddha was revived in the Lan Na Kingdom during the 15th century.

A very similar but taller example attributed to the 16th century is illustrated in Woodward (1997, p. 251).

The style of this Buddha typically is attributed to Ayutthaya or at least the period, but geographically, related Buddha images were produced elsewhere including in what today is western Cambodia.

The image has a good patina. There is a casting fault to the lower left leg. The feet have holes drilled through suggesting that this was how the image originally was attached to a pedestal. This image is accompanied by a custom-made black display stand.

 

Above: This standing Buddha of related form to the example here is from Cambodia’s Battambang Province, and is attributed to the 16th century. From the National Museum of Cambodia, and photographed in the Musee Guimet, Paris.