Carved
into white marble and then delicately overlaid with gold leaf this is classical
Siamese statue that would have been the centerpiece of a private family shrine.
There is a royal presence to this Buddha, a sweetness of expression and a highly
refined quality to the artistry. This Buddha, typical of many of the sitting Thai
or Siam statuary has his hands in the "earth witness mudra", the mudra that
depicts the Buddha Shakyamuni's moment of enlightenment.
The
Buddha's costume has the winged ornamentation that is found in the statuary and
traditional royal costume throughout South East Asia. It indicates a celestial
quality of heaven and earth and the realms in between. Thai Buddhism is considered
syncretic, a fusion of Theravada Buddhism with the highly colorful and creative
native animism. There are thousands of Buddhist temples and shrines all over present
day Thailand. Walk into a typical Thai Buddhist temple and you will see a dozen
or so Buddhist statues present-day evocations of this divine lineage. This highly
refined classical statue is an exquisite representation of the art form and the
genre. The gilt is worn in places and the fontanel spire of the crown is missing.
