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

Item id: 140

Exceptional and beautiful Northern Thai Buddha. My estimate on age is 19th to very early 20th century. The casting and sculpting are superb. The face successfully captures the beatific spirit of the best Buddhas. The condition is excellent: the only loss is to the mother of pearl inlaid eyes. It appears to never have been gilding. There is lacquer on two levels of the base. It is a large piece: it stands 12 and 1/4 inches high, and is 8 inches wide at the base. One of the most special aspects of this item is the underside: I have never seen this before on a Thai Buddha. The clay core is smoothed out and lacquered: there are some words written, and a thumb and finger print. It appears that this was some form of consecration. ALSO (again unique for a Thai Buddha of this size) there seems to be something inside that makes a sound when the piece is shaken. This is a fantastic one.