Page 70 - Christies March 14 2017 Tibetan Bronzes NYC

SoutheaSt aSIan Sculpture 244
A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA

THAILAND, MON DVARAVATI STYLE,
9TH CENTURY
16æ in. (42.5 cm.) high
$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE

with Connie Mangskau, Monogram Shop,
Bangkok, Thailand, by 1965.
Louis Kaufman Collection, Los Angeles,
USA, purchased from the above before
6 December 1965.
Acquired by the current owner from a public sale,
California, 1 September 2016.
泰國 孟族陀羅缽地風格 九世紀 銅佛像

The standing fgure of the Buddha with both
hands raised in the gesture of vitarkamudra - the
gesture of elucidation or argumentation - is an
iconographic form unique to mainland Southeast
Asia. The thumb and forefnger, joined at the tips,
form circles representing both perfection and
eternity. The fgure is symmetrically arranged with
the monastic robes closely clinging to the body,
displaying very sensitive modeling of the torso and
focusing on the purity and fuidity of form. The
markedly raised brow and high, pointed ushnisha
are characteristic of Mon Dvaravati Buddha
images from this period.

As expressed by Jean Boisselier, “The school of
Dvaravati may stand alongside the great Buddhist
artistic traditions of India, so enduring were its
innovations and so persuasive its infuence on
most of the art of Southeast Asia” (J. Boisselier,
The Heritage of Thai Sculpture, 1975, p. 73). Large-
scale sculptures of this type are quite rare. For
a similar work in the Alsdorf Collection, see P.
Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and
Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn
Alsdorf Collection, 1997, p.102 and 299, cat.no.124.

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