Dimensions: Height 18 cm Wide 11 cm Depth 10 cm without base

Weight: 2325,6 grams

This fragmentary and misscast bronze depicts a seated Buddha in meditation, the figure retaining elements of the bhūmisparśa mudrā posture, with the right hand originally intended to touch the earth in the gesture of calling the Earth to witness. The Buddha sits cross-legged upon a double-lotus pedestal, though much of the casting failed, leaving irregular surfaces and heavy encrustations of metal slag.

The face, with its rounded contours, downcast eyes, and tightly curled hair knots, echoes the Chiang Saen style of Northern Thailand, which flourished in the 15th–16th centuries and drew inspiration from earlier Pala prototypes. Chiang Saen Buddhas are recognized for their compact proportions, broad shoulders, and softly modeled bodies, features still discernible here despite the incomplete casting.

Such misscast images were byproducts of the lost-wax process, in which molten bronze did not flow evenly into the mold. While successful castings became venerated icons, misscast bronzes are exceptionally rare to survive, since they were usually melted down and recast. Their preservation offers unique insight into the practical realities of traditional bronze casting, as well as the continued ritual use of even imperfect images once consecrated.

This piece, with its surviving stylistic traits and irregular casting, stands as both a testament to the Chiang Saen sculptural tradition and an unusual record of the risks inherent in the casting process.