BUSTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN TERRE CUITE

Thaïlande, Haripunjaya, XIIIe siècle

Footnotes

This image of the crowned and jewelled Buddha shows him wearing an elaborate necklace, earrings, and a crown — now broken, though the surviving outline suggests it once rose to a pointed form. The face bears the distinctive characteristics of Haripunjaya sculpture: continuous arched brows with an incised line beneath, a flat, slightly flared nose, and an accentuated upper lip. Terracotta figures like this were formed in a mould and used to adorn monuments and shrines.

Haripunjaya, the Mon kingdom centred in present-day Lamphun in northern Thailand, flourished from about the 7th to the 13th century before being absorbed into the Thai Lanna kingdom. The kingdom was an important centre of a localized Buddhist tradition practiced among the Mon and Pyu communities of Dvaravati, Haripunjaya, parts of Lower Burma, and northern Thailand before and during the rise of Theravada Buddhist orthodoxy, which spread to Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka.

Buddhist art in these regions was influenced by eleventh-century Pala India through trade and pilgrimage routes. This influence is evident in the popularity of the Buddha as a crowned and jewelled figure, particularly in the pointed crown composed of leaf-like elements. This form does not appear in Sri Lankan Buddhist art, yet it remained popular throughout Thailand despite the growing dominance of Theravada Buddhism. For reference see Hiram W. Woodward, Jr., The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, The Walters Art Gallery, USA, 1997, pp. 116-119. For a comparable crowned terracotta head from north-central Thailand, 13th century, see the National Museum of Asian Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington D.C. (acc. no. S2005.433).

Provenance
Christie's, Amsterdam, 1998, lot 176.
Private Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above;
Thence by descent.

泰國 哈利奔猜 十三世紀 陶塑寶冠佛半身像

來源
佳士得，阿姆斯特丹，1998 年，拍品編號 176
比利時私人收藏，購於上者
後由家族傳承