figure
- Museum number
- 1872,0701.2
- Description
-
Figure. The gilded, dry lacquer sculpture depicts the Buddha seated cross-legged with his left hand resting in his lap and his right hand in the gesture of 'touching the earth' or 'bhumisparshamudra' which is believed to have occurred at the moment of Enlightenment. The 'usnisha' (a cranial bump signifying high spiritual attainment) is missing its original finial. The hair is formed into small points with 'thayo' (lacquer putty), the hair is separated from the forehead by an indented line and the elongated earlobes rest on the shoulders.The robe covers the right shoulder in a plain flap, and the stylized drapery folds below the knees in simple '3' and reverse '3'- shaped contours.
The figure is enthroned on a tapered, two-tiered plinth, decorated with a dart-like double lotus pattern at the top and with pendant triangles articulated with lines and dots at the base. The plinth is supported on a wooden frame.
- Production date
- 18thC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 57 centimetres (approximately)
-
Width: 41 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The '115' painted on the plinth is typical of a style of numbering used by the statue's second owner John Bridge.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2000 Apr-Aug, BM, 'Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer'
- Acquisition date
- 1872
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased by John Bridge at the Stuart sale at Christie's in June, 1830. The collection was given to the British Museum in 1872 by Mrs John Bridge and his nieces, Miss Fanny Bridge and Mrs Edgar Baker, on the death that year of George Bridge, brother of John Bridge.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1872,0701.2
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 115 (Bridge Collection number)
