Posted By: Bill H
Posted Date: Jan 30, 2011 (08:20 PM)
You may wish to take the precaution first of ascertaining whether your Burmese-style 'Mandalay' Buddha image was imported into the USA legally. Since the 1980's, US Government trade and other sanctions have been imposed and strengthened against Burma.
Having said that, based on stylistic considerations, I'd venture an opinion that this image may be a product of the crafts industry that thrives on recreating Burmese-type art at factories in and around Chiang Mai, Thailand. My experience, including nine years either in Burma or next door in Thailand, is that these images of lacquered wood with molded lacquer appliques on the robe hems usually are gilded all over.
The ungilded areas on your Buddha don't appear to reflect age-related wear but evoke an impression of restoration or economizing on expensive gold leaf. Further, the facial expression seems to me to lack the sweetness of the antique Mandalay images I'm used to seeing. For comparison I've uploaded a photo of a smaller but more typical Mandalay Budddha herewith,
Pertinent to your interests, US federal agents arrested a couple of antique dealers in the northwestern US last year and changed them with illegally importing Buddha images in violation of US sanctions against Burma. If I correctly recall the news I read, the pair tried unsuccessfully to claim belief that the Buddhas were from Thailand because their supplier was based there.
Goood luck,
Bill H.
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