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Lot 3216
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA MYANMAR, PAGAN PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY
20 March 2018, 18:30 EDT
New YorkSold for US$37,500 inc. premium
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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA
MYANMAR, PAGAN PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61529
8 in. (20.2 cm) high
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61529
8 in. (20.2 cm) high
Footnotes
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