Pagan Terracotta Sculpture - 21 cm

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Terracotta votive plaque
Myanmar, Kingdom of Pagan (Bagan), 12th century
Terracotta
21 × 14 × 3 cm

This terracotta votive plaque, moulded in a matrix and fired at a low temperature, belongs to the religious production of the Pagan kingdom, a major center of Theravāda Buddhism in Southeast Asia between the 11th and 13th centuries. It adopts the architectural form of a niche or a small miniature sanctuary, evoking the façades of Pagan temples, with a slightly ogival summit and a relief frame designed to highlight the interior composition.

The surface features a repetition of small Buddha figures arranged in registers, seated in meditation, a iconography characteristic of Burmese votive tablets of this period. These objects were produced in large numbers and then deposited in the foundations of temples, in stupas, or kept as objects of personal devotion in order to accumulate religious merit (puñña).

The grainy texture of the clay, the irregularities of the moulding, and surface erosion attest to an antiquity consistent with Pagan productions of this era. The reverse is rough, undecorated, as is generally the case for this type of votive offering intended to be sealed in an architectural or ritual context.

Condition: Significant wear, breaks, cracks, material loss, and generalized erosion of the relief decoration. Earthy surface with ancient concretions consistent with prolonged burial. Requires a plinth.

Provenance: Kanaka The Collection
Sent with certificate of authenticity

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