16/17th Century Burmese Arakan Wood Buddha Statue
AGE: – Between 16th – 17th Century
CONSTRUCTION: – Teak Wood
HEIGHT: – 58cm
WIDTH: – 31cm
DEPTH: – 20cm
WEIGHT: – 7.7 Kg.
#915 – PRICE: CONTACT
This is an impressive 16/17th Century Burmese Arakan Wood Buddha Statue seen here seated on a pedestal with a double row of glass pieces decorating the front of the pedestal representing lotus flowers. This Buddha statue is seen with a taller more elongated usnisha than the average usnisha seen on many Burmese Buddha statues from other parts of Burma.
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The ears reach down, touching the shoulders, eyes are painted and downcast. The lapel (sanghati) and edges of the robe are decorated with scrolls made from Thayo lacquer as are the hair curls. The right-hand gesture is in bhumisparsa mudra (touching earth). This lovely old Buddha statue shows a black resin coating under a reddish-coloured layer which is seen in wooden Buddha statues of this period and was traditionally used before gilding, traces of gilt still remain.
Arakan is located in the Rakhine State, in the northwest part of Burma. When Myanmar gained independence from British rule in 1948, the province that was predominantly inhabited by the Arakanese people was named Arakan. However, the name was later changed to Rakhine in the 1990s. The ancient name of Arakan is Rakhainepray.
A long range of mountains referred to as the Arakan Yomas Ranges separates the rest of Myanmar from Arakan and is bordered by the Bay of Bengal and the estuary of the River Naf in the southwest. The capital of Rakhine state is Sittwe which was once a thriving port governed by the British during the colonial period and was referred to during that period of time as Akyab.
Due to internal conflict and earthquakes, both recent and over the past several hundred years, many archaeological sites located in Mrauk-U with its once beautiful temples and monasteries now lay in ruins with just a couple relatively intact. This truly is “Burma’s Lost Kingdom: Splendors of Arakan”, written by the Australian historian Pamela Gutman (now deceased).
