Believed to be lacquered bronze. It weighs 492g. It is 12 cm (H), 10 cm (w) and 6.5 cm (D). It is hollow. It was bought by my late partner from a reputable Thai dealer in fine art and antiquities who has a shop in Bangkok. I know it cost a lot of money in the 1980`s. The dealer who is chinese/thai buys from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. I inherited it on his death.
Owned by my late partner John Plampin. Before that the dealer.
Dear,
My name is Luciana, I'm an appraiser for Mearto and it is a pleasure for me to be able to help you.
It's a Budha of Birma, 19th Century.
In Asian art, the aim of art was never to imitate nature or to re-create reality through illusionistic devices. Rather, the goal was to produce an idealized form. Sculptors did not model their images on living beings: whether the subject was a god or a mortal, the artist strove to convey a stylized ideal.
Various hand gestures, known as mudras, are used to express the mood and meaning of divine images, whether Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist. When a seated image has palms upward and placed within each other in the lap, it is the mudra of meditation (dhyana).
The deities may be presented in a variety of seated postures (asanas) as well. Meditating gods—the Buddha, the jinas, Shiva—often sit in a special cross-legged lotus posture (padmasana).
The valuation is based on prices in the Asian art market at auction houses and antique shops around the world, we consult several databases.
Website Consulted
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gods/hd_gods.htm
https://www.1stdibs.co.uk/
m.pantip.com
Thanks for the appraisal Luciana. I thought it was a Thai Buddha and I am pleasantly surprised to find it is Burmese. When did painting and lacquering of Buddha statues begin please?