Ayutthaya Period Gilt Bronze Buddha Head with Inlaid Eyes

Thai Ayutthaya period gilt bronze Buddha head. Shell(?) inlaid eyes; inset green mirrored glass to crown. On ebony stand. Height 15.35 in. (without stand). Provenance: Estates late Adolphe and Asra Alexander, a German-Thai couple involved with architecture, interior design and import-export merchant trading, initially operating in Bangkok they moved to Brisbane in 1960. Asra was the daughter of a German merchant living in Thailand whose Company imported luxury European goods, and (with Royal warrant) counted the Thai palace among their customers. Thence by descent - private collection, Canberra.

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Ebony - Ebony is a close grained timber, black in colour. It has a fine texture which can be polished to a high gloss, making it suitable for venereering, inlay and stringing and its use as solid timber is resticted to small decorative items and ornamental decoration, such as chess pieces and musical instrument parts. The term "ebonised" means "faux ebony", timber that has been darkened during the polishing process to resemble ebony.
Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.

The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.

It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Oriental deities, bronze
- Buddha 659
- Thai deities 166