A LARGE AND HEAVY WHITE MARBLE LACQUERED FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, 17TH CENTURYBurma. The white marble finely carved to depict Buddha seated in dhyanasana atop a neatly incised lotus throne, his left hand above his lap and the right lowered in bhumisparsa mudra, wearing a tight-fitting robe draped over his left shoulder and gathering in folds at the base. The serene face with heavy-lidded downcast eyes above gently arched brows and full lips forming a calm smile, flanked by long pendulous earlobes, the hair surmounted by a conical ushnisha. The hair, ears, robe, and base covered in a reddish-brown lacquer, the marble of an attractive milky white tone.Provenance: Austrian trade.Condition: Good condition overall with expected wear, weathering and traces of use. Flaking to lacquer, remnants of gilt, nicks, scratches, signs of erosion, some losses and minor structural cracks.Weight: 27.6 cmDimensions: Height 51 cmThe knob on the top of the head of this Buddha image is the ultimate successor to the cranial protuberance covered with hair found on the very earliest Buddha images (first-second centuries AD). This most probably served as a reminder that the Buddha, once from a warrior caste, originally wore his uncut hair in a bun or chignon hidden under his turban. The origin of this feature came to be forgotten, but was re-discovered in the 16th-17th centuries and eventually topped by a flame.Literatureparison:Compare a related gilt-lacquered white marble figure of Buddha, 75 cm high, also dated to the 17th century, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, accession number 1685 B no. 175 A.