Buddha head

Description

This interesting Buddha head, produced during the Ayutthaya period, is fairly round, his face oval with stylised, symmetrical features, and his nose convex.

The Buddha wears a delicate crown, finely decorated with friezes of incised floral and geometric motifs, and medallions of flowers. E The half-closed eyes are directed downwards, the eyelid is incised, bordered by prominent eyebrows, which meet in the centre to extend to the aquiline nose. The mouth is slightly smiling, with a slightly protruding edge.

The left ear is fragmentary here, but we can make out the lobes deformed by the earrings, recalling Prince Siddhartha’s prestigious past life. The overall impression is one of grave serenity, in keeping with the Buddha’s mode of representation.

Provenance: Former collection of Roger Maugras, a French diplomat posted to Bangkok in the 1930s, then Galerie Barrère, 1999.