THAI STANDING BUDDHA

BRONZE, COVERED WITH GILT AND LACQUER

AYUTTHAYA STYLE

CIRCA 14^{TH TO} 17^TH CENTURY

145 cm / 57” high w/base

EXHIBITED: Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York ,Spring 1971

Catalog exhibition entitled ‘Art of Thailand.’ Item 10: Loan number 397.70L

DESCRIPTION: The figure stands on a four tiered base with his right hand raised in abhaya-mudra*, the left arm pendent at his side wearing a simplified monk’s robe. The robe covers both shoulders and is marked by a fold at the abdomen and by a median pleat.

The head is conceived abstractly, compositions of linear and geometrical forms arranged on an ovoid surface. And “the pervasive linear element constant in Thai sculpture has finally subjugated what little had remained of sculptural quality per se.” The perfect, if mechanical workmanship, combining conventionalized features, gives this image a cold and remote aspect. Such expression is typical of the Buddha images in the mature phase of the Ayutthaya style. The piece is most unique in that the base and the flame are believed to be original.

Placed in Private Collection