A rare bronze of the standing Buddha

Description:

Thailand, Mon-Dvaravati, 8th/9th cent.
H. 18,8 cm (ohne Sockel)
Standing in samabhanga, both hands raised in vitarkamudra, wearing samghati and uttarasangha, his face showing a serene expression with downcast eyes under furrowed eyebrows, elongated earlobes and the curly hairstyle continuing into the low ushnisha, on wooden stands
From an old German private collection, acquired at Chaicharn, Karnasutra-Thienprapat, Bangkok, 1963
The standing figure of the Buddha with both hands raised in the gesture of vitarkamudra - the gesture of explanation or argumentation - is an iconographic form that only exists on the Southeast Asian mainland. The thumb and forefinger, joined at the tips, form circles that represent both perfection and eternity. The figure is arranged symmetrically, the clinging hands lie close to the body and show a very sensitive modelling of the torso, which concentrates on the purity and fluidity of the form. The clearly raised eyebrows and the high, tapering ushnisha are characteristic of the Mon Dvaravati Buddha depictions from this period.
Jean Boisselier put it this way: "The Dvaravati school can stand alongside the great Buddhist art traditions of India, so consistent were its innovations and so üconvincing its influence on the greater part of the art of Sößdostasia" (J. Boisselier, The Heritage of Thai Sculpture, 1975, p. 73). Large-scale sculptures of this kind are quite rare. For a similar work in the Alsdorf Collection, see P. Pal, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, 1997, pp. 102 and 299, cat. no. 124.
Währoughout the Mon-Dvaravati period, considerable innovations in religious iconography were developed. For example, many Buddhas hold both hands in a gesture of representation or teaching (vitarkamudra), which in India is restricted to the right hand. Images from the related site of Prakhon Chai also show this double hand gesture, but otherwise it is unknown in the Buddhist world. Another iconographic innovation was to place a standing Buddha and flanking attendants on the back of Garuda, a semi-divine winged being who normally appears as the vehicle (vahana) of Vishnu - Parts clearly corroded and with wear, three fingers of the left hand missing