Laos, 18th Century, Maravijaya Buddha In Bronze With Dark Patina

Laos 18th century
Bronze with dark patina
37 x 22cm
Accidents to the base, wear and tear
Private collection

Annual leave from September 3 to 28 inclusive.
For all requests, please contact us at the following email address: culturesetcivilisations@orange.fr

Buddha is represented seated on a base decorated with lotus petals. The legs are in the sattvaparyanka position, the right leg resting on the left leg and the hands in bumisparsha mudra, the right hand resting on the knee, the fingers pointing towards the ground and the left hand placed in its lap, palm facing the sky. The body is corpulent and has broad shoulders with long arms, delicate hands with long slender fingers and a powerful chest swollen with the breath of meditation. He is dressed in the samgathi, the monastic habit, leaving the right shoulder uncovered, a piece of the fabric placed on the left shoulder and falling in a straight line on the navel. The very soft face is characterized by perfectly rounded eyebrow arches overhanging large, half-open almond-shaped eyes encrusted with mother-of-pearl, revealing pupils outlined in black. The aquiline nose overhangs a mouth with thin lips sketching a slight smile, the neck presenting the three classic folds of beauty. The skull is covered with a multitude of small pimples and surmounted at the top by the usnisa (cranial protuberance) from which springs a flamed rasmi borrowed from Sinhalese images. The lobed ears distended by the weight of the jewels that the Buddha wore as a prince symbolize the royal origin of the Awakened.

The representation of our Buddha is part of the classic images of Buddhist statuary and refers to a particular episode in the life of the Awakened. The latter being close to reaching Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Mâra, the god of unceasingly unfulfilled desires, seeks to distract the Blessed and claims to claim for himself the throne of Awakening. Faced with the repeated attacks of Mâra, the Buddha remains impassive and by this symbolic gesture, takes the Earth to witness his oath to preach to all creatures the means of escaping the causal cycle of reincarnations.