A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, MON-DVARAVATI PERIOD

Thailand, 8th century. Finely cast standing with his left hand holding the hem of his robe and his right raised in vitarka mudra, draped in a heavy uttarasanga, the serene face with heavy-lidded eyes, gently arched brows, full smiling lips, flanked by pendulous earlobes, his hair in tight curls over the domed ushnisha.

Provenance: From the private collection of Darwin Freeman, collected between the 1968-1971, and thence by descent within the same family. Born 1946 in Idaho, USA, Darwin Freeman was a member of the armed forces and later became an avid collector. He met his wife in the mid-1960s, and the pair later relocated to her hometown of Innsbruck, Austria. In 1967, Freeman was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Germany and Thailand. While he was stationed at the Embassy in Bangkok, between 1969 and 1971, he actively began engaging in the exploration and collection of ancient bronzes and other works of art. Upon completing his duty, Freeman arranged for his collection to be shipped to Austria, where it remained in storage until this day.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, minor signs weathering and erosion, small areas of corrosion, minuscule nicks here and there, minor losses. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown patina with scattered malachite and cuprite encrustations.

Weight: 1,790 g (excl. base), 3,507 g (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 32.5 cm (incl. tang, excl. base), 41.5 cm (incl. base)

With an associated metal stand. (2)

Expert’s note: Bronze figures of Buddha from this period are very rare. Compare with a partially intact eighth-century figure of Buddha, now in the NMC, inventory number Ga5412, see H. Jessup and T. Zéphir, Millennium of Glory, Washington, 1997, pp. 150-1, fig. 5. Both wear the heavy uttarasangha over one arm, leaving the right shoulder bare. The garment models the body similarly in both examples, the hem undulating slightly around the pectoral muscles, and closely sheathing the body to reveal the flesh of the belly below rounding out slightly above the dhoti. Jean Boisselier has hypothesized that the drapery flowing around the wrist is a chronological marker, dating the present work no earlier than the eighth century.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze figure of a standing Buddha, previously recorded as Mon Style, Dvaravati kingdom, Thailand, 7th century and later attributed by John Guy in Lost Kingdoms as Malay Peninsula, 6th century, 27.5 cm high, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, accession number IS.61-1993. Compare a related bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Thailand, Mon-Dvaravati, c. 8th-9th century, 22.9 cm high, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number AC1997.208.1. Compare a related bronze of a standing Buddha, Lower Mekong Delta, 7th-8th century, in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, accession number 1999-02602.