Louise Termignon
Stock Inventory and Discovery Sale Coordinator
Lot 20
TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVe-XVIe siècle
12 December 2025, 11:00 CET
Paris, Avenue Hoche€15,000 - €20,000
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Alvina Ang
Sale Coordinator & Cataloguer
Theresa McCullough
Senior Specialist
Mark Rasmussen
International Director
TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE
Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVe-XVIe siècle
A COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF BUDDHA
Thailand, Ayutthaya period, 15th–16th century
33 cm (13 in.) high
A COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF BUDDHA
Thailand, Ayutthaya period, 15th–16th century
33 cm (13 in.) high
Footnotes
This head of the Buddha originally belonged to a large standing or seated image and was separately cast and later attached. The almond-shaped eyes are gently lowered beneath finely arched brows that merge seamlessly into the long, pointed nose. A faint smile softens the full, outlined lips, and the defined chin combines softness and strength. The elongated, pierced earlobes indicate his princely origins, while the hair, arranged in neat rows of snail-shell curls, rises to form the usnisha, once topped by a separately cast flame finial. These attributes allude to the Buddha's renunciation of worldly life and attainment of spiritual perfection. Traces of red lacquer and gilding remain on the surface, hinting at the sculpture's original splendour.
Religious texts prescribed strict definitions as to how the Buddha should be depicted, and these rules were firmly adhered to. At the same time, artists maintained a fluidity of line. For a discussion of this, see A. B. Griswold, Dated Buddha Images of Northern Siam, Switzerland, 1959, pp. 22–23, where Griswold describes the gilded surface of such images as "a vision of fiery energy." For comparison, see an early-Ayutthaya Buddha head in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 2019.570.12).
Provenance
Ancart Ph., Brussels, 1987.
Private Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above (recorded in a 1987 insurance document);
Thence by descent.
泰國 大城時期 十五至十六世紀 銅佛首
來源
Ancart Ph.，布魯塞爾，1987 年
比利時私人收藏，購於上者 （記錄於1987年保險文件）
後由家族傳承