A GOLD REPOUSSÉ VOTIVE PLAQUE DEPICTING BUDDHA,... Lot n° 361

A GOLD REPOUSSÉ VOTIVE PLAQUE DEPICTING BUDDHA, MON DVARAVATI PERIOD, 7-8TH CENTURY Thailand. The flattened gold sheet with a pointed summit and a straight base, sensitively worked in repoussé with Buddha seated on a finely worked double-lotus pedestal with branches extending outward. Seated in dhyanasana and hands held in dhyana mudra, the benevolent face minutely detailed with heavy-lidded eyes, a broad nose, elongated lobes, and hair neatly arranged in curls around a tall ushnisha. Two apertures to the base for mounting. Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with wear. Minor signs of weathering, small soil encrustations, likely from a prolonged period of burial, small dents, minor nicks, some flaking, and minor losses. Weight: 17.3 g Dimensions: Height 15.5 cm Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gold plaque with Buddha standing on a closely related double-lotus pedestal, 15.2 cm high, dated 8th-9th century BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2001.416. Compare a related gold plaque depicting a Bodhisattva, 5.4 cm high, dated to the 7th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1990.135.