Mandalay Marble Seated Buddha

The Mandalay Period represents the last great cultural flourishing of Burmese art. The period was named after the city of Mandalay, which served as capital of Myanmar for a brief period (1860-1885 A.D.) during the reign of King Mindon. After the Anglo-Burmese Wars, northern Myanmar was shut off from the coastal areas that were controlled by the British. King Mindon founded the new capital at a sacred site at the foot of a large hill. The center of the city was designed in the perfect geometrical form of a Buddhist Mandala, giving the city its name. Although this short-lived kingdom finally fell to the British forces in 1886 A.D. during the Third Anglo-Burmese War, the Royal Guilds that created such remarkable works of art for the King remained in the city where they continued to produce sculptures in the Mandalay style.

This marble statue of Buddha demonstrates the high degree of artistic refinement achieved through the artistic expression of religious and philosophical beliefs. In most Asian countries this becomes a canonical form, which distinguishes the Buddha from all other figures. Cross-legged in yogic posture, the Buddha touches the earth with the tips of his fingers, palm faced downward and arm fully extended–a symbolic gesture summoning the earth goddess to witness his right to seat beneath the tree of wisdom called the bhumisparsha mudra. It is the moment of enlightenment, the attainment of Buddhahood in which the transcendence is achieved. The sensation of tranquility and detachment experienced in this stage is evident in the facial features which are further enhanced by the smoothness and clarity of the medium. The Buddha’s robe covers the left shoulder in the traditional monastic manner, is delicately pleated at the edges and fans out over the lotus base. The separation of the hair from the face by a broad band is a device of Khmer heads of the Angkor period and yet at the same time the accommodation of ethnic Burmese facial features highlights the personal aspirations of laymen. All the volumes of his body are perfectly proportioned, symmetrical, smooth and fully rounded: the shoulders are broad, and the hips narrow; his arms reach down to the knees and the lobes of his ears are distended. The general appearance associated with the Buddha characterizes him partly as a noble human being and ideal ruler and partly as superhuman. The elegance and spirituality of the Buddha form is well conceived in this Burmese marble representation.