A RARE AND MONUMENTAL (265 CM HIGH) GILT AND POLYCHROME WOOD FIGURE OF CROWNED BUDDHA, THAILAND, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

Finely carved standing in samapada atop a square base with his right hand raised in abhaya mudra and the left hanging pendent to the side, dressed in a sheer robe that hangs gracefully from his forearms, with tapering hems, adorned with a bejeweled and floral-decorated belt, pectoral, and necklace. The serene face with full bow-shaped lips and almond-shaped eyes inlaid in bone and black glass, flanked by elongated earlobes with large pendeloque earrings, the hair pulled up into a high conical chignon and secured with an ornate crown.

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.
Condition: In good condition commensurate with age, material, and monumental size. Exhibiting expected wear and natural imperfections, including age-related cracks and fissures. Some flaking, minor chips, and old restorations are present. The head has been reattached. Extensive wear and losses to the gilt and polychromy. Overall, the piece presents exceptionally well.

Dimensions: Height 265 cm

The image of the Buddha wearing a distinctive crown and elaborate ornamentation is often described with the popular Thai term Phra Chao Song Khruang (A Lord Wearing Ornaments). The standard depiction of the Buddha throughout the Buddhist world shows him without jewels or other adornment, with distended earlobes signifying the earthly wealth he renounced when he left the palace. In Southeast Asia, however, crowned images of the Buddha were popular in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and then again in the sixteenth century when adorned Buddhas proliferated. The most popular explanation for this contradiction on his common demeanor derives from the Jambupatisutta, which tells the story of the arrogant and boastful king Jambupati. The Buddha appeared before Jambupati, bedecked and bejeweled, thus humbling him. An alternate explanation is that the crowned Buddha is Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, who in this lifetime is a bodhisattva, a situation that may require that he be shown expressing both identities. Maitreya worship was widespread from the sixth century, as Buddhists commonly believe that those born during Maitreya's lifetime automatically achieve enlightenment.

Literature comparison:
Carved wood figures of this size are exceedingly rare and the present example is possibly the largest in private hands. Compare a related smaller Thai carved wood figure of Buddha in the National Museum of Kamphaeng Phet. Compare a related smaller Cambodian gilt-lacquered wood figure of Buddha with mother-of-pearl and glass inlays, 18^th-19^th century, 180 cm high, in the Musée Guimet, Paris, and illustrated by Pierre Baptiste and Thierry Zéphir, L’art Khmer dans les collections du musée Guimet, 2008, p. 449.