A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA


NORTHERN THAILAND, LAN NA PERIOD, 15TH/EARLY 16TH CENTURY12 1/8 in. (30.7 cm) high
|泰國北部 蘭納王朝 十五/十六世紀早期 佛陀銅坐像 The sculpture is a classic example of the Lan Na kingdom's Phra Singh type of Buddha image. It characteristically depicts Buddha seated in 'double lotus' posture, extending his right hand to claim victory over Mara's last attempts to entrap him. Other defining features include the jewel finial above the ushnisha, the large hair curls, the robe in 'open mode', and a monastic shawl draped high over the left shoulder. The sculpture also exhibits a touch of Sukhothai styling in the high-arched eyebrows and the shawl's 'fishtail' pleat. Two eminent 14th-century Phra Singh Buddhas blending elements of Lan Na and Sukhothai styles are discussed in Stratton, Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand, Chicago, 2004, pp.171-2, figs.7.15 & 7.18. Stratton also publishes further examples closely related to the present sculpture (with similar bases), spanning the mid-15th to early-16th centuries (ibid., p.178, figs.7.51 & 7.53). Provenance Ex-Collection of Louis and Annette Kaufman, assembled 1930s-1960s