About the Work

This larger than life-size head is a magnificent portrait of the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. Buddha’s cheeks and chin are rounded, and his mouth is finely outlined. His voluminous face takes an oblong shape and is articulated by engraved lines and arched eyebrows, which are raised in low relief.

His heavy-lidded downcast eyes are subtly inclined towards the nose, underlining his meditative expression. His ears with elongated earlobes, denoting his princely origin, are prominent and animated. The dome shaped ushnisha, symbolising his enlightened state, is covered by voluminous snail shell curls and crowned by a flame. The bronze is cast with sensitivity and exquisite precision, conveying Buddha’s compassionate and spiritual nature.

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Provenance

Private Collection, Haarlem, circa 1935-1976.
Venduehuis der Notarissen (founded in 1914), Haarlem, 1976.
Mr. Frits Flieger, Amsterdam, 1976.
Galerie de Ruimte, Eersel, 1976-1977.
Dr. Leo Geeris, The Netherlands, 1977-2023.
Mrs. Linda José van der Most, 2023.

Literature

PUBLISHED
Brabantse oude Kunst en Antiekbeurs, exh. cat. Kasteel Nemelaer, Haaren, September, 1976. J. Nies and M. Nies, with an introduction by Dr. J. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Sculpture from Cambodia and Thailand, Gallery the Ruimte, Eersel, 1977, no.48.
RELATED LITERATURE
T. Bowie, M.C. Subhadradis Diskul and A.B. Griswold, The Sculpture of Thailand, New York, 1972, pp.100-105, 111, nos.59, 60, 61, 64.
J. Boisselier and M. Beurdeley, The Heritage of Thai sculpture, New York, 1975, nos.92, 93, 98, pp.131, 132, 137.
S. Van Beek and L. Invernizzi Tettoni, The Arts of Thailand, London, 1985, pp.116-117. C. Stratton and M. McNair Scott, Art of Sukhothai: Thailand's golden age from the mid-thirteenth to the mid-fifteenth centuries, Oxford, 1987.
M.C. Subhadradis Diskul, Hindu Gods at Sukhodaya, 1990, figs.25A, B, 53A, 68, 69, 46, 47, 90, 124, 126.
J. Fontein (ed.), De Boeddha’s van Siam, Michigan, 1995, pp.43, 44, 69, nos. 8, 9, 27.