A BRONZE FLAME FROM THE HEAD OF A BUDDHA, KAMPHAENG PHET STYLE, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, 15TH CENTURY

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A BRONZE FLAME FROM THE HEAD OF A BUDDHA, KAMPHAENG PHET STYLE, SUKHOTHAI PERIOD, 15TH CENTURY This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2012: “No. 582, FH 1986, Thai Kamphaeng Phet bronze flame 15th c., 21 cm h.” Gallery price: EUR 1,275 or approx. EUR 1,800 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. Thailand. Skillfully cast as a rising flame, intended to crown the cranial ushnisha of the Buddha Shakyamuni, symbolizing his supreme enlightenment. The front finely detailed with undulating flames emerging from a swirling central core, with a serrated outline formed by the pointed tips of the flames. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Height 20.8 cm The Sukhothai Kingdom, established in 1238, experienced a relatively brief but artistically significant period of independence before its gradual incorporation into the rising Ayutthaya Kingdom, a process completed in 1438. Influenced by the reformist currents of Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism, which spread widely across mainland Southeast Asia in the thirteenth century through monastic networks linking Sri Lanka with ports along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, Sukhothai sculptors turned to early textual descriptions of the Mahalakshana, or ‘Signs of a Great Man’. Drawing on these canonical sources, they developed a distinctive and highly refined Buddha image that departed from earlier Mon and Khmer sculptural traditions. One of the most characteristic features of this style is the flame-like ushnisha, reflecting broader patterns of religious and cultural exchange with Sri Lanka. Kamphaeng Phet was one of the principal fortified cities of the Sukhothai Kingdom and later an important provincial center under the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Situated along the Ping River in northern Thailand, it functioned both as a strategic military outpost and a significant religious center. Numerous temples and monasteries were established there, many of which produced distinctive Buddha images in bronze and terracotta. Today, the remains of the city are preserved within the Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bronze flame, dated 14th-15th century, in the Ramkhamhaeng Museum, Sukhothai. Compare a related larger copper alloy flame, dated “perhaps 1400-1600”, 58.5 cm high, in the Chantharakasem National Museum, Ayutthaya, included in the exhibition The Kingdom of Siam. The Art of Central Thailand, 1350-1800, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 18 February-8 May 2005, no. 10.

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