Stupa with five Buddhas. Burma, XVIII century.

Stupa with five Buddhas. Burma, XVIII century.
Carved wood.
Finished with a black-brown lacquer, red and traces of gold.
Good condition.
The heads of the elephants, probably made of ivory, are missing.
Measurements: 74 x 28 x 27 cm.

Rare and finely carved Burmese stupa, with five Buddhas worked in round bulk seated in the posture of the lotus flower and performing with their hands the Mudra of taking the earth as a witness. The pentagonal base houses five elephants, whose legs function as supports for the thrones. In Buddhism, the elephant is considered an earthly manifestation of the qualities of wisdom and serenity embodied by the Buddha himself. We identify in the Buddhas several specific lakshana: the symmetry of their physiognomic features express serenity, the closed eyelids indicate meditation, the elongated earlobes denote nobility and wisdom. The headdresses or Ushnishas are inspired by the shape of a stupa. The bhumi sparsha mudra ('gesture of touching the Earth', being bhumi: 'the planet Earth'; and sparsha: 'to touch') represents the moment when Buddha solved the problem of ending suffering when he was under the Bodhi tree.