A MONUMENTAL (194 CM HIGH) GILT-LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA MUCHALINDA, RATTANAKOSIN PERIOD
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

Thailand, reign of King Rama I-III, 1782-1851. Finely cast seated in ardha padmasana on a richly decorated throne atop the scaled coils of Muchalinda who rises above the Buddha’s head to form a separately cast protective hood. His hands are lowered in dhyana mudra, and he is dressed in a close-fitting sangati draped over the left shoulder. His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes, gently arched brows, prominent nose, and full lips forming a calm smile, flanked by long pendulous earlobes. The hair carefully arranged in tight curls over the ushnisha surmounted by a separately cast flame.

Provenance: The Kienzle Family Collection, Stuttgart, Germany. Acquired between 1950 and 1985 by siblings Else (1912-2006), Reinhold (1917-2008), and Dr. Horst Kienzle (1924-2019), during their extensive travels in Asia. Subsequently inherited by Dr. Horst Kienzle and bequeathed to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany. Released through museum deaccession in 2024. The Kienzle siblings were avid travelers and passionate collectors of Asian and Islamic art. During their travels, the Kienzle’s sought out and explored temples, monasteries, and markets, always trying to find the best pieces wherever they went, investing large sums of money and forging lasting relationships to ensure they could acquire them. Their fervor and success in this pursuit is not only demonstrated by their collection but further recorded in correspondences between Horst Kienzle and several noted dignitaries, businesses and individuals in Nepal and Ladakh. Their collection had gained renown by the 1970s, but the Kienzle’s stopped acquiring new pieces around 1985. Almost thirty years later, the collection was moved to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, opened by Peter Hardt in 2014. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter Hardt and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Labels: Galerie Hardt, inscribed ‘Buddha durch Naga […], Siam um 1850, Bangkok-Stil’, the back ‘Reg. 19516, H:194 B: 108 T: 79’, and priced at EUR 85,000.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, few small nicks and light surface scratches, small dents, little rubbing, touchups, and minimal losses to gilding and lacquer.

Weight: ca. 325 kg
Dimensions: Height 194 cm

This finely cast popular representation of the Buddha is gilt-lacquered and modeled in a style typical of the Rattanakosin period that commenced in 1782. The Buddha sheltering under the seven-headed naga is typical of the showy glitter cherished at this time. Its iconography relates to the life story of the Historical Buddha, Shakyamuni: in the fifth week of the seven weeks, he meditated after attaining Enlightenment, when he was seated at the edge of Lake Muchalinda, a terrible storm arose, causing the waters of the lake to rise. Seeing that Buddha was lost in meditation, the serpent (naga) king Muchalinda slipped his coils under Buddha's body, lifting him above the flood. At the same time, he spread the hoods of his seven heads to shelter him. This image is found throughout Southeast Asia.

Floral patterns are the most common designs on nineteenth-century patterned robes, owing to their association with royalty, as such patterns on articles of clothing were reserved for use among royalty and members of the court. It was, therefore, suitable for exalted figures such as Prince Siddhartha and the Buddha to be depicted in similar motifs. Other motifs such as patterns of small seated Buddhas or geometric shapes can also be found on robes of mid-nineteenth-century sculptures; they are, however, not as common (see Melody Rod-Ari, The Buddha as Sacred Siamese King, The Walters Art Museum Journal, vol. 73, 2018, pp. 25-34).

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related smaller Rattanakosin gilt-lacquered bronze figure of Buddha Muchalinda, dated early 19th century, 74.3 cm high, in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, accession number, 8337.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 March 2018, lot 46
Price: HKD 625,000 or approx. EUR 60,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A lacquer gilt-bronze figure of Buddha under Muchalinda, Thailand, mid-19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, decoration, and subject. Note the much smaller size (83 cm).