STATUE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRETHAÏLANDE, ÉPOQUE AYUTTHAYA, VERS LE MILIEU DU XVE SIÈCLE95.2 cm (37 1/2 in.) highProvenance: A LARGE COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHATHAILAND, AYUTTHAYA PERIOD, CIRCA MID-15TH CENTURY泰國 大城時期 約十五世紀中葉 佛陀銅像Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1980sThis sensuously modelled seated Buddha is fashioned in the Sukhothai style after the kingdom fell under the suzerainty of Ayutthaya. Characterized by a wide seat afforded by elongated limbs loosely crossed, this large base supports a modelled paunch and wide shoulders which lift into an elongated face crowned with a tall flaming finial. These slimmer features are often seen in sculptures created during the mid-15th century, after Sukhothai was annexed by the Ayutthaya kingdom.By the end of the 15th century, the Ayutthaya kingdom rose as the dominant political power in Thailand, which lasted for nearly four hundred years. Epassing the lands of the former Mon, Khmer, and Sukhothai kingdoms, it is better understood as a patchwork of self-governing principalities rather than a unified state. Hence, an adoption of these revered regional styles with strong ethnic associations, including predominately Sukhothai features, occurred within the ruling power of the Ayutthaya kingdom. A likely place of production for this bronze is Kampaeng Phet, Phitsanoluk, or Sukhothai itself, three nearby cities that formed a strategic triangular defence of Ayutthaya's captial against the Burmese.Comparing the present bronze with a gilded and red-lacquered paragon of the Classic Sukhothai style within the National Museum, Bangkok, (Stratton,Buddhist Sculptures of Northern Thailand, Bangkok, 2004, p. 35, no. 54), its predominant Sukhothai features include the flame finial, heart-shaped hairline, eyebrows that converge with the nasal walls, wept eyes with dipped upper lids, and recessed lips. Moreover, thesanghati's position, hanging above the navel, and the legs folded in half lotus are indicative of this emblematic Thai style. Another example of the Classic Sukhothai style was sold at , New York, 20 March 2018, lot 3218.Features of this impressive Buddha image that depart from the quintessential Sukhothai style of the 13th and 14th centuries include its more diminutive snail shell curls of hair, the straight edge terminating thesanghati, and the less accentuated nose which departs from the true 'parrot's beak' of Classic Sukhothai examples. This sculpture's fainter, less pronounced smile is another characteristic of Sukhothai-inspired images, emerging in the mid-15th century during the Ayutthaya period. (National Museum Volunteers Group,Treasures from the National Museum, 2010, p. 44).