Page 64 - Maitri CollectionAsian Art Bonhams

“Do not what is evil. Do what is good.
Keep your mind pure. This is the teaching of Buddha.”
(The Dhammapada, ch.14, v.183, translated by Juan Mascaro)

3216
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA
MYANMAR, PAGAN PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61529
8 in. (20.2 cm) high

$30,000 - 50,000

緬甸 蒲甘時期 十二世紀 銅佛立像

The figure is a fine example of a rare Pagan bronze, displaying precise features and
surviving with a rich, varied patina ranging from copper red to a deep green. He
compares favorably to another example sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 4 June 1994,
lot 11. Surviving in much fewer numbers than the related and contemporaneous Pala
bronzes of Northeastern India, Sylvia Fraser-Lu concisely summarizes the markers of the
Pagan style:

“The form of the Pagan standing image resembles that of the colossal Gupta image
of Sultanganj now in the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, England. In this
style Lord Buddha stands serenely on a plain round, or lotus, pedestal, the hands are
beautifully molded; the right hand is raised from the elbow in abhaya, while the left holds
a lapel. Clothing appears as sheer muslin and clings to the body to reveal a broad-
shouldered figure tapering to a narrow waist, rounding out at the thighs...Both shoulders
are covered and the folding of the gown is confined to the periphery. A line below the
navel marks the lower garment and the hem is shown by a double wavy line at ankle
level. As with stone sculpture of the same period, the face is oval to triangular with a
slightly pointed chin. The eyebrow arches are almost joined together in a V-shape and in
many cases, are set with an urna...The eyes gaze down past a long aquiline nose and a
small smiling mouth. The elongated ears do not touch the shoulders. The head, covering
in rounded curls, is crested by a flame niche above the ushnisha which is set well to
the back of the heads. Images range in height from the colossal 13 feet of a standing
Buddha, at the Shwezigon in Pagan, to the miniature 5 1/2 inches of another from a relic
chamber at Myinpagan.”
(Fraser-Lu, “Buddha Images from Burma, Part II”, in Arts of Asia, March 1981.)

Comprised of over two thousand temples, stupas, libraries, and monastic halls, Pagan is
home to the densest concentration of Buddhist monuments in the world. The founding
of the Pagan dynasty in the mid-11th century culminated in the first major unification
of modern-day Myanmar and a subsequent golden age in its history. Close ties were
fostered between the Buddhist monasteries of India and Sri Lanka, which would have
a pivotal and lasting impact on the spread and character of Buddhism throughout
Southeast Asia.

Published
Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art, An Important Group of Sculptures from India,
Southeast Asia, and China, London, 2012, no.18.

Provenance
Private UK Collection, early 1980s
Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art, London, 1 October 2012

62 | BONHAMS