Descriptions

This seated Buddha is sculpted out of alabaster and there are traces of gold and red pigment. The Buddha is seated in Vajrasana (lotus), the left hand is in dhyanamudra (meditation), and the right hand is in Bhumisparsamudra (touching the earth). Although provenance is unknown, the object was donated to the museum in the late 1800s by Mrs Ross of Topsham, wife of Mr Locke Ross. Therefore, the piece can be dated to pre-late 1800s. There are two other pieces in the collection: 66/2003 and 79/1929/3, that share similar characteristics to this piece.

The Buddha has all the stylistic characteristics of the Mandalay Workshop. An image of the object was viewed by John Guy of the V & A, who suggested that the sculpture was of Mandalay Style and that those images sculpted out of poorer material were literally churned out in the Mandalay workshops to enable the devotees that bought them to gain merit. The reason the Mandalay Workshop Buddhas are included in the report is because they represent a fundamental element of Buddhist day-to-day life in Burma: the endless pursuit of gaining merit.

This object is not on display.