Buddha head in gilded bronze

Description

This magnificent Buddha head, dated from the late 16^th century and made of gilded bronze, testifies to the diversity of production of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya at its heyday.

The perceptible tranquility of the Buddha is here emphasized by an ornamental simplicity. One can only be appeased by this meditative expression.

The uṣṇīṣa is covered with small tufts of hair symmetrically organized, while the eyebrows design perfect arches that join eventually just at the bridge of the nose. The eyes and ears are confidently achieved with graceful incurves.

Provenance: Private collection, Turin, since 1980.

Publication: Il Mercato dell’Arte, Padoue, n°5, April 1985, p. 25

• Le Bonheur, Albert (dir.), L’Art de l’Asie du Sud –Est Paris : Citadelles et Mazenot, 1994.
• Siamese art of the 14th-19th centuries in the Hermitage, Saint-Petersboug : Slavija-Interbuk, 1997.
• Woodward, Hiram W., The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand. The Alexander B. Griswold Collection. The Walters Art Gallery. Bangkok : River Book, 19