
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
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Sold for US$47,575 inc. premium
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International Director

Head of Sale, Specialist
帕堯 泰國北部 十五世紀晚期 佛陀銅像
Shown seated in maravijaya pose with elegantly contoured hands, this Northern Thai buddha image has distinctive facial features that emphasize Buddha's blissful contentedness. The sculpture is from Phayao stylistically, which was an important principality bordering Chiang Rai and Laos. Phayao's workshop is renowned for its buddhas carved from locally sourced pink sandstone. The faces of Phayao buddhas have prominent brows that are not as highly arched as neighboring styles. They also have a well-defined philtrum between the nose and mouth which is softly modeled without relying on hard ridges. Also, their chins do not have the modeled rounded 'ball' common to other Northern Thai styles (Sukhothai and Lan Na, for example).
Good points of comparison are three Phayao bronzes dated by their inscriptions to 1474/7, 1497 and 1498 (Stratton, Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai, 2003, pp.235 & 253, figs.8.124-5 & 9.20). In terms of scale and quality, closest of these is the first, which is in the Bangkok National Museum and was commissioned by Prince Yuthisathian, the governor of Phayao and former suzerain of Phitsanulok. It is also discussed in Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand, Bangkok, 1997, p.189, fig.188.
Published
Bolaffi Arte, No. 29, Milan, 1973, p.32
Provenance
Private Collection of a Noble Italian Family since 1950s
Thence by descent to the current owner