Antique bronze Buddha statues

Variations in patina, oxidation, and surface wear attest to their age and their long journey within collections assembled between the 1960s and 1980s, sometimes from specialist dealers

The antique bronze Buddha statues gathered under this label—whether full statues or Buddha heads, devotee figures, bodhisattvas, or other deities—come from old private collections or from the Claude de Marteau collection. They bear witness to the skill of Asian workshops in metalwork, characterized by balanced volumes, meditative expression, and surfaces patinated by time.

In many cases, the term “bronze” is used by convention to designate sculptures made in copper alloys—mixtures of copper, tin, lead, or other metals—according to traditional casting techniques. Variations in patina, oxidation, and surface wear attest to their age and their long journey within collections assembled between the 1960s and 1980s, sometimes from specialist dealers.

This label thus brings together a group of antique bronze Buddha statues and related sculptures, whose differences in casting, patina, and modeling reflect the diversity of workshops and Buddhist traditions Theravada, Mahayana, or Vajrayana.