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

Item id: 582

This is a truly old stone head from a Buddha or Bodhisattva: it is either Cambodian or Thai with strong Khmer influence, and is probably 13th century, and possibly 12th century. It has extensive wear and loss. It was collected 35 years ago by a man who was living in SE Asia and who worked for Air America (i.e. the CIA). I purchased a large part of his estate, which included several early rain drums, many bronze statues, early ceramics, and several other wonderful items. It is quite substantial at 6 inches tall with a circumference of roughly 12 inches. It would have come off a statue more than 2 feet tall. It weighs approx 6 pounds. At certain angles and lighting the face is quite animated and expressive; at others it looks quite worn. There may be remains of a moustache, which would make him aBodhisattva, or possibly Shiva or Vishnu. There are extensive remains of the original lacquer. The patina is as authentic as it gets.