Buddha; Burma, c. 1800.

Buddha; Burma, c. 1800.
Gilded wood with glass bead appliqués.
The mount is not part of the lot.
Provenance: Ian Somers, London (1975) and Harry Geoffrey Beasley Collection.
Measurements: 126 x 54 x 27 cm (without stand).
Round bulk sculpture adopting the image of standing Buddha carved in wood, highlighted with red lacquer, gilded, on a hemispherical lotus-shaped base. A hemispherical "Ushnisha" is arched on its crown. Headband decorated with thayo technique with small glass beads and mirror plates. Her left hand holds the edge of her monk's robe and with her right hand she holds a small fruit.
Ancient Burmese art was influenced by India and China, and was often religious in nature, ranging from Hindu sculptures in the Thaton Kingdom to Theravada Buddhist images in the Sri Ksetra Kingdom. It was from the 16th century onwards that artists began to reflect in their works the idiosyncrasies of Burmese culture reflecting the central Buddhist elements, including mudra, Jataka tales, pagoda and Bodhisattva.

Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) was a British anthropologist and museum curator. He inherited a family fortune and, with his wife Irene, founded the Cranmore Ethnographic Museum at their home in Chislehurst, which grew to hold over 6,000 objects from Asian, African, North American and Pacific cultures. He was a leading member of the Royal Anthropological Institute and wrote several scholarly articles. After his death from diabetes in 1939, his collection was stored during the war and then distributed among several important British museums and private collections.