Page 17 - Chinese Art Bonhams San Francisco December 18, 2017

815

SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART FROM THE KRANNICH COLLECTION
THE KRANNICH COLLECTION, VIRGINIA
814 815
A DRY LACQUER FIGURE OF BUDDHA A GILT LACQUERED AND INLAID GLASS WOOD SCRIPTURE
Myanmar, Ava style, 19th century CHEST
The figure with traces of gilding; together with an associated Mandalay Myanmar, early 19th century
mandorla, circa 1880. [2] The wood chest’s front panel ornamented with metal, glass, lacquer,
30in (76.2cm) height of Buddha and gold leaf.
47in (119.5cm) height of associated mandorla 24 x 45 1/2 x 25in (61 x 115.6 x 63.5cm)
$8,000 - 12,000 $4,000 - 6,000
Discussing the style and attribution of the figure in a recent exhibition Described by Sylvia Fraser-Lu in a recent exhibition catalog:
catalog, Sylvia Fraser-Lu writes:
‘The front panel of this teak scripture chest (sa-daik) has been
‘This Buddha image with eyebrows set high on the forehead well embellished in lacquer and cut glass with a rendition of Mount Meru,
above downcast eyes, sharply chiseled nose, and a small slightly the center of the Buddhist universe, which rests in a vast ocean
puckered mouth displays features typical of Ava-style images [of with gigantic fish encircling the base. Instead of the usual schema of
Myanmar]. Framing the facial features and neck are ears with very mountains, oceans, and guardians and gods in their dwellings, the
long lobes that touch the shoulders. The head and ushnisha are summit of Mount Meru here is occupied by a pair of adorants flanking
covered with a cap of small spikes of lacquer sometimes referred to a stupa, possibly the Culamani, which according to the biography of
as “Shwebo thorns”...The left hand with very long digits, rests palm the Buddha, enshrines the locks of the Buddha’s hair severed at the
upward in the lap. The right hand, with fingers of equal length, is in the Great Renunciation and a tooth taken by Dona at the distribution of
bhumisparsa mudra touching the upper surface of what remains of the relics following the parinibbana. Flanking Mount Meru are two-storied
base of the throne, where light outlines of the lower robe can be seen and triple-tiered pavilions that house a standing Buddha in the central
fanning out between the legs...This example is typical of images made pavilion on the right and a seated effigy in the upper story on the
in the dry lacquer medium known as man-hpaya.’ left. The other rooms in the pavilions and the surrounding courtyards
are filled with devotees oriented toward the two Buddha figures in
Exhibited worshipful attitudes. Trailing sprigs of foliage fill the background. The
Buddhist Art of Myanmar, Asia Society Museum, New York, 10 thick chunks of glass backed by sheet metal and cemented in place
February-10 May 2015 (figure only). with ribbons of thayo lacquer suggest an early-nineteenth-century
date.’
Published
Sylvia Fraser-Lu & Donald Stadtner (eds.), Buddhist Art of Myanmar, Compare a similar front panel, divorced from its chest, in the Victoria
New York, 2015, pp.174-5, no.44 (figure only). & Albert Museum (Acc.#593-1906), published in Clarke, ‘Highlights
of the Lacquer Collection from Myanmar (Burma) in the Victoria and
Provenance Albert Museum,’ in Arts of Asia, Vol.47, No.5, September-October
Both figure and mandorla: 2017, p.51.
Estate of Connie Mangskau (1907-1990), Thailand
Elephant House, Bangkok Exhibited
The Krannich Collection, Virginia, acquired from the above in 1993 Buddhist Art of Myanmar, Asia Society Museum, New York, 10
February-10 May 2015.

Published
Sylvia Fraser-Lu & Donald Stadtner (eds.), Buddhist Art of Myanmar,
New York, 2015, pp.210-1, no.63.

Provenance
The Krannich Collection, Virginia
Acquired from Amavaradi, Chiang Mai in 1994

FINE ASIAN WORKS OF ART | 15