A LARGE GILT PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PROCESSIONAL HEAD OF BUDDHA, 19TH-20TH CENTURY
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

Southeast Asia, probably northern Thailand or Laos. The oval face modeled with a meditative expression marked by downcast eyes below gently arched brows and centered by a tear-shaped urna, thin nose, and bow-shaped lips, flanked by elongated earlobes, the hair in rows of tight snail-shell curls, and surmounted by an ushnisha. The gaunt face no doubt enhanced by the exposure to the natural elements. The gray papier mâché supported on a wire armature and covered in gilt and black splashes.

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: Extensive wear, traces of use, manufacturing irregularities, signs of weathering, flaking, losses, warping.

Weight: 6.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 82 cm

This Buddha head was most likely made for a Buddhist procession or festival in Southeast Asia. One of the most popular festivals is Vesak Day, an annual Buddhist celebration held in many South and Southeast Asian countries to commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing of Gautama Buddha. Another important festival is Khao Phansa (Buddhist Lent), which is celebrated in Thailand and marks the beginning of the annual, three-month rains retreat for monastics. It originated in India as a period in which the ancient monastic order ceased their itinerant activities during the monsoon season. The Pi Mai Lao festival (Lao New Year Festival) is one of the most important events on the Buddhist calendar in Laos, based on Khmer and Mon Burmese traditions. All these festivities are celebrated with colorful processions of Buddhist sculptures.