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

Item id: 1057

A fantastic 16/17thCBurmese Buddha. It has a number of influences- it has Ava and Mon influences, and more interestingly, the base is clearly drawn from the style of Lanna Thailand from the 16th century. During this period the Burmese invaded Thailand, and dragged Thai artisans back to Burma, so perhaps this is how this distinctive and beautiful base came to be on a Burmese Buddha. It is actually finer that that I have seen on the vast majority of Thai statues. Most importantly--- is the superb face, which is unique- the relationship between the eyes and nose are drawn from Mon Buddhist art, with the bridge of the nose even more flat and broad than usual, and the mouth is an absolutely beautiful elongated Ava/early Shan mouth. The overall effect is quite successful and distinctive. I’m tempted to keep this in my personal collection, but I simply cannot keep them all.