Page 122 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York
P. 122
79 Within this context, it is not surprising that the present lot shows
A LARGE COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA stylistic features common to both cultures. This is apparent in many
Northern Thailand or Laos, 15th/16th century other sculptures, such as one in the Museum Rietberg (see Fontein,
Seated upright, his elegant fingers in bhumisparsha mudra reaching The Art of Southeast Asia, Zurich, 2007, pp.92-3, no.40) and another
over the base, his small bow-shaped smile with outlined lips, his long sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 30 November 1994, lot 147. For
arched eyebrows in relief; with traces of gilding throughout. examples of Lao Buddha sculptures with similar arched eye brows,
35 in. (88.8 cm) high short nose, and small mouth, see Giteau, Art et Archéologie du Laos,
$40,000 - 60,000 Paris, 2001, p.157, figs. 120-1, as well as Parmentier, L’art du Laos,
Hanoi, 1954, p.119, figs. 145A & C.
泰國北部或老撾 十五／十六世紀 銅佛坐像
Published
The history and religion of northern Thailand and Laos are very Bolaffi Arte No. 29, Milan, 1973, p. 32
intertwined. The founder of the Thai Lan Na kingdom, King Mangrai,
took Vientiane under his rule in the 13th century. Half a century later, Provenance
the Thai exile, Fa Ngum, broke away and established the Lao kingdom Private Collection of a Noble Italian Family since 1950s
Lan Xang Hom Khao. He is credited with bringing the Sinhalese Thence by descent to the current owner
Buddhism adopted in Northern Thailand at that time to Laos. Similarly,
Lao Buddhist sculpture borrowed heavily from northern Thai styles
produced at centers of production like Chiang Mai.
120 | BONHAMS
