Cambodia - Khmer art Bronze / copper alloy Crowned Buddha seated in bronze. - 19.1 cm
12
days
02
hours
39
minutes
49
seconds
Current bid
€ 1,400
Reserve price not met
Expert
Selected by Peter Reynaers
Has nearly 30 years’ experience and moderated multiple online art research groups.
Estimate € 4,500 - € 6,500
 | €1,400 | |
|---|---|---|
| €1,300 | |
| €1,200 | |
Catawiki Buyer Protection
Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details
Trustpilot 4.4 | 142645 reviews
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
Khmer bronze seated crowned Buddha, Angkor period (12th–13th century), with a meditative pose, height 19.1 cm, width 14.5 cm, depth 6 cm, gray-green patina with verdigris and corrosion traces, provenance from a private collection Darwin Freeman and acquired in 1971 from an auction house.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Bronze crowned Buddha — Khmer art, Angkor period, 12th–13th century
Former Darwin Freeman collection · Height 19.1 cm · Weight 1.202 kg
Remarkable bronze statuette depicting a crowned Buddha seated in meditation, attributed to Khmer art of the Angkor period, 12th–13th centuries.
The figure adopts a meditative posture, legs crossed in dhyānāsana and hands brought together in the dhyāna mudrā. At the center of the hands rests a small ritual attribute whose shape could evoke a medicinal vessel or a lotus bud. This peculiarity particularly allows for considering a representation of Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, although this identification cannot be definitively established.
The face, with almond-shaped eyes, a broad nose and full lips, expresses a serenity characteristic of Khmer Buddhist art. A imposing broad crown, adorned with bas-relief motifs and topped by a tall conical headdress, frames the forehead. Long hanging earrings, an elaborate necklace and armlets complete the rich princely adornment.
This iconography of the crowned Buddha testifies to a conception of the Buddha as a universal spiritual sovereign, a representation that shows a remarkable development in medieval Khmer art, notably under the influence of Buddhist traditions from eastern India.
The treatment of the body, with a bare chest, a cinched waist and limbs harmoniously arranged, contributes to the balance of the composition. The lower garment, or sampot, displays still perceptible folds.
The sculpture preserves a gray-green patina with deep nuances, punctuated by greenish accretions and areas of dark brown corrosion. These surface variations emphasize the reliefs of the crown, the ornaments and the modeling of the body. Under the base remain earthy materials compatible with the remnants of a casting core, indicating a hollow casting technique most likely performed by lost-wax casting.
Provenance
Former private collection Darwin Freeman, American collector born in Idaho in 1946. According to the published provenance, his collection was amassed between 1968 and 1971, notably during his stay in Thailand, then transferred to Austria, in Innsbruck. It was subsequently kept within the family and passed down through descendants.
Institutional Comparisons
A related representation of the crowned Buddha attributed to Khmer art in the Lopburi style and dated to the 12th–13th centuries is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, inventory number 2019.451. The Cleveland Museum of Art also holds a Khmer bronze from the 12th century offering an interesting parallel for the meditative posture and the hand-held attribute (inv. 1942.149).
Condition
Good overall condition, given the proposed age and visible alterations. Surface wear, casting irregularities and traces of corrosion. The main iconographic elements remain legible.
The work is accompanied by a Mimosa study certificate presenting its stylistic and iconographic analysis, technical characteristics, published provenance and museum comparisons.
Seller's Story
MIMOSA SA — EXPERTISE, RESEARCH AND TRANSMISSION
For more than 26 years, I have been working as an art dealer specializing in ancient Asian arts. My work is not simply to offer objects: it is to observe them, to understand them, to study them and to document them before passing them to a new collector.
Each work presented by Mimosa SA undergoes thorough examination. Depending on its nature, this study may concern the iconography, the style, the proportions, the material, the execution techniques, surface traces, patina, the condition, restorations, provenance as well as relevant bibliographic, museum or archaeological comparisons. When justified, additional scientific analyses may also be undertaken.
Our approach rests on the experience of sight, gained from direct contact with the works for over two decades, but also on methodical and constantly renewed research. We always favor a cautious, coherent and argued attribution rather than a seductive but insufficiently substantiated assertion.
Transparency is at the heart of our approach. The wear, gaps, accidents, ancient restorations or more recent interventions are reported as precisely as possible. When an attribution carries uncertainty or remains a working hypothesis, it is clearly presented as such.
Present on Catawiki since 2016, we have chosen to maintain a regular selection of works there in order to meet international collectors who value authenticity, knowledge and quality of documentation.
Each acquisition is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued under our professional responsibility. For the most important works, this certificate takes the form of a genuine study dossier gathering the main technical, stylistic, iconographic, historical and bibliographic observations made during our research.
The same standard applies to shipping. Over the years, we have developed a packaging method adapted to old, fragile, heavy or complex-shaped objects. Each work is protected, immobilized and carefully packaged, according to its material and its particularities. The shipping costs correspond to the real needs for protection, handling, insurance and secure transport. Shipping is never regarded as a source of commercial profit.
Acquiring a work from Mimosa SA is to receive a selected, studied, described, documented and prepared object with the same care that we would wish for a work destined for our own collection.
Translated by Google TranslateBronze crowned Buddha — Khmer art, Angkor period, 12th–13th century
Former Darwin Freeman collection · Height 19.1 cm · Weight 1.202 kg
Remarkable bronze statuette depicting a crowned Buddha seated in meditation, attributed to Khmer art of the Angkor period, 12th–13th centuries.
The figure adopts a meditative posture, legs crossed in dhyānāsana and hands brought together in the dhyāna mudrā. At the center of the hands rests a small ritual attribute whose shape could evoke a medicinal vessel or a lotus bud. This peculiarity particularly allows for considering a representation of Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, although this identification cannot be definitively established.
The face, with almond-shaped eyes, a broad nose and full lips, expresses a serenity characteristic of Khmer Buddhist art. A imposing broad crown, adorned with bas-relief motifs and topped by a tall conical headdress, frames the forehead. Long hanging earrings, an elaborate necklace and armlets complete the rich princely adornment.
This iconography of the crowned Buddha testifies to a conception of the Buddha as a universal spiritual sovereign, a representation that shows a remarkable development in medieval Khmer art, notably under the influence of Buddhist traditions from eastern India.
The treatment of the body, with a bare chest, a cinched waist and limbs harmoniously arranged, contributes to the balance of the composition. The lower garment, or sampot, displays still perceptible folds.
The sculpture preserves a gray-green patina with deep nuances, punctuated by greenish accretions and areas of dark brown corrosion. These surface variations emphasize the reliefs of the crown, the ornaments and the modeling of the body. Under the base remain earthy materials compatible with the remnants of a casting core, indicating a hollow casting technique most likely performed by lost-wax casting.
Provenance
Former private collection Darwin Freeman, American collector born in Idaho in 1946. According to the published provenance, his collection was amassed between 1968 and 1971, notably during his stay in Thailand, then transferred to Austria, in Innsbruck. It was subsequently kept within the family and passed down through descendants.
Institutional Comparisons
A related representation of the crowned Buddha attributed to Khmer art in the Lopburi style and dated to the 12th–13th centuries is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, inventory number 2019.451. The Cleveland Museum of Art also holds a Khmer bronze from the 12th century offering an interesting parallel for the meditative posture and the hand-held attribute (inv. 1942.149).
Condition
Good overall condition, given the proposed age and visible alterations. Surface wear, casting irregularities and traces of corrosion. The main iconographic elements remain legible.
The work is accompanied by a Mimosa study certificate presenting its stylistic and iconographic analysis, technical characteristics, published provenance and museum comparisons.
Seller's Story
MIMOSA SA — EXPERTISE, RESEARCH AND TRANSMISSION
For more than 26 years, I have been working as an art dealer specializing in ancient Asian arts. My work is not simply to offer objects: it is to observe them, to understand them, to study them and to document them before passing them to a new collector.
Each work presented by Mimosa SA undergoes thorough examination. Depending on its nature, this study may concern the iconography, the style, the proportions, the material, the execution techniques, surface traces, patina, the condition, restorations, provenance as well as relevant bibliographic, museum or archaeological comparisons. When justified, additional scientific analyses may also be undertaken.
Our approach rests on the experience of sight, gained from direct contact with the works for over two decades, but also on methodical and constantly renewed research. We always favor a cautious, coherent and argued attribution rather than a seductive but insufficiently substantiated assertion.
Transparency is at the heart of our approach. The wear, gaps, accidents, ancient restorations or more recent interventions are reported as precisely as possible. When an attribution carries uncertainty or remains a working hypothesis, it is clearly presented as such.
Present on Catawiki since 2016, we have chosen to maintain a regular selection of works there in order to meet international collectors who value authenticity, knowledge and quality of documentation.
Each acquisition is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued under our professional responsibility. For the most important works, this certificate takes the form of a genuine study dossier gathering the main technical, stylistic, iconographic, historical and bibliographic observations made during our research.
The same standard applies to shipping. Over the years, we have developed a packaging method adapted to old, fragile, heavy or complex-shaped objects. Each work is protected, immobilized and carefully packaged, according to its material and its particularities. The shipping costs correspond to the real needs for protection, handling, insurance and secure transport. Shipping is never regarded as a source of commercial profit.
Acquiring a work from Mimosa SA is to receive a selected, studied, described, documented and prepared object with the same care that we would wish for a work destined for our own collection.
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Culture
Cambodia - Khmer art
Century/timeframe
Période angkorienne, XIIe–XIIIe siècle (attribué)
Name of object
Crowned Buddha seated in bronze.
Acquired from
Private collection
Year acquired
1971
Material
Bronze / copper alloy
Country acquired from
Europe
Condition
Very good
Previous owner acquired from
Auction house
Height
19.1 cm
Previous owner - year acquired
2026
Width
14.5 cm
Previous owner - country acquired from
Belgium
Depth
6 cm
I verify that I have obtained this object legally and that I am allowed to sell it
Yes
Authenticity
Original/official
Sold by
Disclaimer
The seller was informed by Catawiki about documentation requirements and guarantees the following: - the object was legally obtained, - the seller has the right to sell and/or export the object, as relevant, - the seller will provide the necessary provenance information and arrange required documentation and permits/licenses, as applicable and as per local laws, - the seller will notify the buyer of any delays in obtaining permits/licenses. By bidding, you acknowledge that import documentation may be required depending on your country of residence and that obtaining permits/licenses may cause delays in the delivery of your object.
The seller was informed by Catawiki about documentation requirements and guarantees the following: - the object was legally obtained, - the seller has the right to sell and/or export the object, as relevant, - the seller will provide the necessary provenance information and arrange required documentation and permits/licenses, as applicable and as per local laws, - the seller will notify the buyer of any delays in obtaining permits/licenses. By bidding, you acknowledge that import documentation may be required depending on your country of residence and that obtaining permits/licenses may cause delays in the delivery of your object.
