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Dear Forum,

need help: age verification
Buddha Ayutthaya, sandlewood, hight of Buddha figure 20 cm (7,9 inch), base 10 cm (4 inch), total 30 cm (12 inch)
Buddha figure and base are separate

Thanks in advance!
Easymix









Link :Opium Weights Forum

It's of 20th century, not antique!

Certificate is just a piece of paper, the core thing is how good/expertise the person who examined and identified the artefact is instead!
However it's not my business to argue with any persons, I've just express my opinion on subject that you posted in this forum.

Dear Easymix
Definitely not from Kingdom of Ayutthaya, this Buddha image was possibly copied from Lopburi Period (7th to 14th centuries AD), style of standing Buddha with the gesture of Forbidding the Relatives from Fighting. This style of standing Buddha was once renovated and famous in King Rama VI (reign :1910-1925) period of Bangkok , Bangkok period (1768 AD to present).

It is authentic 20th century Ratthanakosin (Bangkok) period, style of Central Thailand. I think it is from Petchaburi Province.

About the Sandal wood, any smell????. Sandal wood are not from Thailand, we must import the sandal wood from Myanmar for making incense sticks and only for royal Thai family state funerals, used for cremation of the bodies of the royal family started from his/her royal highness rank. In my conclusion, the sandal wood have never been made as Buddha images because of its rarity and value.

Ayutthaya wooden Buddha will not survive in good condition since Thailand is hot with high humidity. The ancient Thai wooden Buddha images are mostly coated with black lacquer and then glued with pure gold leaves. (Pls check your Buddha image).
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About the gestures performed by the hands of a Buddha image (mudras). They have specific meanings that refer to some event in the life of the Buddha or denote a special characteristic.

Your Buddha's gesture is made with the right hand raised and the palm facing outwards, four fingers are at the same length (BKK period). The raised right hand is at the level of Buddha’s chest. The left hand is straight down above his knee. We called this gesture in Thai as "Pang Ham Yad" means standing Buddha with the gesture of Forbidding the Relatives from Fighting.

History: In Buddha's time, there was badly drought all over India, and 2 kingdoms were going to enter the war over the Rohimi River. The 2 kingdoms were both of Buddha’s family, one is Buhhda’s father King Úuddhodana (Pâli: Suddhodana), the ruler of the Úâkya clan of Kapilvastu, and another one was of his deceased mother (Queen Mayadevi) of Devadaha kingdom of ancient Nepal. Buddha had known from his dream that the 2 families will fight each other, so he went there to stop the war, he raised up his right hand and asked them that water or family were the most important? Finally, 2 kingdoms shared Rohimi River without any war.

Have fun
Anita Mui

Dear Sinzhiwu, dear Anita,
many thanks for your (Anita, thanks for comprehensive and very interesting) comments.
About the sandlewood smell, I don't know exactly. I'ts not very strong.
I bought this Buddha last year at River City... in Bkk. I like this style and the good condition for it's pretended age. The Gallery sent me a certificate (see image below). Please have a second look. May be you could give me a better comment than "not antique"
Thanks again.
Cheers!
easymix

Dear Easymix

The certificate says "style = Ayutthaya", not "of the period" or "made in the period of Ayutthaya Kingdom". You can not legally do anything about it.

The River Hotel antique shops are mixed up with re-pro, fakes, and authentics. It depends upon the honesty of the sellers as well as the eyes of the buyers. The sellers can find many tricky ways to ship/smuggle the authentic pieces out of Thailand.

If it is of Ayutthaya Kingdom the wooden buddha could not be passed Customs Clearance at BKK Airport (in case you bring it along with your traveling bags), unless it is not being considered as antique (100 yrs).
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About simple chracteristic of Thai Buddha images:-

Ayutthaya Style (15th-18th century) Ayutthaya's Buddha images possessed the following characteristics:
1.an oval or square face.

2.a flame-like finial on top of the head.

3.Marked line of hair edge on the forehead.

4.The end of the robe hangs from the shoulders to the navel ending in a straight line.

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Rattanakosin (Bangkok) Style (1782 to present) A small number of Buddha images were cast during the first three reigns of the Chakri Dynasty. A large number of bronze statues of Sukhothai, U-Thong and Ayutthaya periods were moved from several parts of the country and were given to temples in Bangkok. Regarding images created in the Rattanakosin Style, they more or less followed the trend of Ayutthaya art.
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Your Buddha is nice workmanship, fine proportion, nice material (I think it is a golden teak wood, from Northern part of Thailand.) I like it very much.

Have fun
Anita Mui

Dear Easymix

About the sandle wood, you may buy sandle wood incense sticks/coils in China Town, or go to the aroma thearapy shops / spa products and smell it for free, then you may see the difference.

Have fun
Anita Mui

Hi easymix,

The smell of sandalwood can best be described as sweet and musky.
I have a small piece I bought in the Thai/Burma border town of Three Pagodas Pass. It is 2.5" x 1" thick and it was about 750 baht. (approx $25)
And I got a great deal, it is usually sold in much smaller wedge shaped pieces for about the same price.

It is used by grinding it with a bit of water on a stone tablet in order to make a paste in a similar manner to the Thanakha wood which is so popular in Burma.

Most Asian species of Sandalwood are endangered and for the most part found in Eastern India, and Sri Lanka, although there are also various other species found in tropical climates around the world. There is also an Australian species which is commercially available and is exported to Asia in large quantities, where it is still popular for many religious uses.

If your statue and it's base were made of sandalwood, I am fairly sure it would be quite a noticeable odor.

Of course, just as when one is buying raw sandalwood as I did, it is easy enough to place a few drops of pure sandalwood oil on any piece of wood to fool the unwary.

It should smell sweet and musky, but still smell like wood.

Cheers
Gman

Dear Anita, Dear Gman,

thanks again for friendly and fast reply.
I've found some sandal wood incense sticks in a corner of a drawer in my home. It smells dulcet and like you discribed.
Now I'm definetly sure, it's no sandal wood and
it is also not heavy enough te be teak wood.
May be somebody can see and say anything about the marks of processing beneath the base.

Cheers and Thanks!
Easymix

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