Gilded Wooden Image of the Monk Sariputta, Burma, late 19th century

Gilded Wooden Image of the Monk Sariputta

Burma

late 19th century

height: 33cm, width: 21.5cm, depth: 33cm

This fine, carved wooden sculpture of one of the Buddha’s two chief disciples, Sariputta (the other is Moggallana), is of gilded, lacquered wood with mirrored glass inserts and thayo work. Conventionally in Burma, Sariputta is depicted seated on the Buddha’s right. Sariputta was deemed second to Buddha in terms of wisdom and knowledge of the Dhamma.

The disciple’s face is naturally rendered, as is his seated posture. His gaze is somewhere between inquiring and languid. The shape of his head is particularly pleasing.

The whites of the eyes have been made using inserts of either wax or mother-of-pearl, with the pupils having been added with black lacquer.

Sariputta sits in a position of listening with his arms resting on his upper legs. He sits in the way of a Buddhist worshipper with feet pointing behind him and away from the focus of veneration. His right foot rests over the long robe which trails behind him.

The robes are highlighted with bands of moulded lacquer relief work, known as

thayo work arrayed in floral scrolls. The thayo patterns have been further inset with glass roundels backed with green and silver foil (a form of decoration known as hman-zi- shwei-cha).

Images of the Sariputta and Moggallana often are found in Burmese artwork. Carved wooden and lacquered images were used in temples and monasteries where they were placed before images of the Buddha as part of a shrine (hpaya khan).

See McGill (2009, p. 77) and Fraser-Lu & Stadtner (2015, p. 184-5) for related examples of Sariputta, and Issacs & Blurton (2000, p. 127) for a pair of disciples in the collection of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

The image here is in excellent condition for its age. There are relatively few losses or cracks, and only minor scratches to the lacquer surface here and there. It was acquired in the UK and almost certainly has been in the UK since colonial times. This accounts for its fine condition despite its obvious age.

References

Fraser-Lu, S., Burmese Crafts: Past and Present, Oxford University Press, 1994.

Fraser-Lu, S., & D.M. Stadtner, Buddhist Art of Myanmar, Asia Society Museum, 2015.

Isaacs, R., & T.R. Blurton, Burma and the Art of Lacquer, River Books, 2000.

Lowry, J., Burmese Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1974.

McGill, F. (ed.), Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma, 1775-1950, Asian Art Museum, 2009.

Provenance

UK art market

Inventory no.: 3990

SOLD