Country Group: South and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam)

Item id: 10282

After owning this piece for decades, and showing it to many collectors and dealers, I believe this is an early Burmese emulation of a Himalayan bronze of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. I believe that 1,000 years ago, somewhere in Burma, they had an early Tibetan or Nepalese bronze Buddha of Compassion that they used as a model for the style. Still, they kept many features of early Burmese Buddhas, including the ball in lap, the robes, the alloy used, the casting style, and(especially) the ears and overall look and feel. I believe it has some features of later Burmese Pyu pieces (9-11thC), but the face, headdress, and lotus petals all look like a Burmese attempt at sculpting in the Himalayan style. Over the years, I have seen a few other related early provincial Burmese attempts at emulating Himalayan art in SE Asian and US collections, though none I can find in books. I am open to other thoughts about this piece. Large for its type (almost 9 inches tall by 6 inches wide at the base!). (8.75"H x 6"W x 5"D) - 4lbs A true collector's piece.