Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 13

U Ba Thet (Burmese, 1903-1972)
Buffaloes at Work

Amended
29 March 2018, 16:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific Place

Sold for HK$143,750 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

U Ba Thet (Burmese, 1903-1972)

Buffaloes at Work
Oil on board, framed
Signed and dated 'Ba Thet 65' at lower right
Painted in 1965
50 x 81 cm (19⅝ x 31⅞ in).

Footnotes

Provenance:
Private Collection, Minnesota, USA

烏巴鐵 水牛勞動 油彩木板 木框 一九六五年作

簽名:Ba Thet 65

來源:
美國明尼蘇達州私人收藏

U Ba Thet was one of Burma's leading artists in the post-World War II period and a major figure of the Mandalay School, painting in the Western style. Although he did not receive formal artistic training, he succeeded first in the watercolour medium through observing Maung Maung Gyi (1890-1942), Ba Zaw (1891-1942) and Saya Saung (1898-1952). His early watercolour subjects included iconic Burmese scenes such as Mandalay Palace and Irrawaddy River; in his later years, he ventured into oil painting in search of adventure and breakthrough.

Buffaloes at Work is a signature example completed during his sophisticated, mature period, at age 62. Men are seen directing water buffaloes across the earthy field, accompanied by a log-laden red truck in the midst of dusty haze and the hot sun shimmering in the horizon. Tabs of oil in the upper left background suggest an onlooker gazing at this laborious act. U Ba Thet's deft brushwork and skilful treatment of light and shadow lend this scene a cinematic quality. The addition of a truck also brings a touch of modernity into the rural scene suggesting both opportunities and contradictions of a nascent Burma in the 1960s.

Saleroom notices

Medium: Oil on canvas laid down on board.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

TÊTE DE BODHISATTVA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIIe-Ve siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE GRIS Ancienne région du Gandhara, II-IIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe-Ve siècle

PANNEAU EN RELIEF EN SCHISTE GRIS REPRÉSENTANT POSSIBLEMENT LA GRANDE RENONCIATION OU L'INTERPRÉTATION DU RÊVE DE MAYA AU ROI SUDDHODANA Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIe-IIIe siècle

STATUETTE DE DIVINITÉ FÉMININE DEBOUT EN TERRE CUITE Inde, Période Maurya-Sunga, IIe-Ier siècle avant J.C.

STÈLE DE FIGURE DEBOUT TENANT UN ARC ET DES FLÈCHES EN GRÈS ROUGE Inde centrale, Madhya Pradesh, Style Khajuraho, XIe siècle

IMPORTANTE STATUE DE DÉESSE EN BRONZE Inde, Tamil Nadu, époque Vijayanagara, XVI siècle

SANCTUAIRE DE SURYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Inde, Bengale, époque Pala, Xe siècle

STÈLE DE VISHNU EN PIERRE NOIRE Inde occidentale, Rajasthan ou Gujarat, ca. XIIe-XIIIe siècle

STÈLE EN PIERRE NOIRE REPRÉSENTANT DURGA TUANT LE DÉMON MAHISHA Bangladesh, XIe-XIIe siècle

STATUETTE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE AVEC TRACES DE POLYCHROMIE Inde, province d'Assam, XVIIe siècle

POIGNARD EN ACIER DAMASQUINÉ D'OR, KATAR DJAMADHAR Inde, moghole, Rajasthan, XIXe siècle

CLOCHE RITUELLE EN BRONZE Indonésie, Java, XIe siècle

RELIQUAIRE EN BRONZE Thaïlande, Sukhothai, XIVe-XVe siècle

BUSTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN TERRE CUITE Thaïlande, Haripunjaya, XIIIe siècle

GRANDE CLOCHE DE TEMPLE EN BRONZE Datée de 1206 de l'ère birmane, ou 1844

ÉPÉE À POIGNÉE EN ARGENT NIELLO, DHA, ET SON FOURREAU Birmanie, XIXe siècle

STUPA EN ARGENT Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN BRONZE Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVe-XVIe siècle

STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA MARAVIJAYA COURONNÉ EN BRONZE Nord de la Thaïlande, époque Lan Na, XVIe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDHA EN BRONZE DORÉ Thaïlande, Bangkok, XIXe siècle

STATUE DE VISHNU CHEVALANT GARUDA EN BOIS SCULPTÉ Thaïlande, XIXe siècle

STATUETTE DE MANJUSHRI AVEC SHAKTI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ Népal, XVIIe siècle