Dimensions: Height 81 cm Wide 45 cm Depth 52 cm
Weight: 27 Kilograms

The Buddha is cast seated in bhūmisparśa mudrā (earth-touching gesture), his right hand extended to call the earth to witness his enlightenment, while the left rests in his lap. He wears a high flame finial crown flanked by elaborate openwork foliate wings, with a tall spire rising above. The figure is adorned with a beaded necklace and ornate chest ornament inset with coloured glass, continuing down the arms as jeweled armbands. The Buddha sits upon a flat double-lotus pedestal with the hem of his robe finely incised. The surface shows a naturally developed dark patina with traces of gilding and red pigment around the ornaments.

The crowned Buddha (Phra Phuttha Chao Song Phra Borommakot) represents a devotional type popular in 19th-century Bangkok, reflecting both Ayutthaya prototypes and the lavish court style of the early Chakri dynasty. These sculptures were intended for palace and temple shrines, where their bejewelled appearance embodied both divine majesty and royal patronage.

Comparative Literature & References

• Compare with a closely related Crowned Buddha, Rattanakosin period, in the National Museum, Bangkok, similarly adorned with glass-inset ornaments.

• A similar 19th-century Thai crowned Buddha sold at Christie’s, London, 12 June 2003, lot 62, showing nearly identical jewelled decoration.

• See Hiram W. Woodward, The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1997, for discussion of jeweled Buddha types in late Ayutthaya and early Bangkok art.

• Compare also to an example in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, accession no. B68S3, Crowned Buddha, Rattanakosin, with similar crown and bejeweled decorations.