Standing Gilt-Wood Buddha Statue, Burma

The standing Buddha, carved in solid wood on its lotiform base, Burma (Myanmar), early Mandalay period, mid-19th century.

• His posture is natural, and his serene face reveals a slight smile. The eyes are made of glass for realism.
• The wood is lacquered and gilded, richly decorated with glass inclusions, and the Enlightened One holds his monastic robe(uttarasanga) in his left hand. In his right hand, he holds the fruit of the myrobolan tree, an allusion to Buddha’s healing powers.
• Provenance: Estate of the dealer and collector Claude de Marteau.
• Sold with certificate of origin
• Learn more about the life and pieces of Claude de Marteau?
• H 99 CM X D 19 CM X W 42 CM. (Including base)
• We have a very limited number of these pieces, all from the same period and provenance.

A wooden Buddha statue from the Burmese tradition

This elegant standing Buddha statue in carved wood, lacquered and gilded, belongs to the great religious tradition of Burma (Myanmar). Created towards the end of the 19th century, it illustrates the refinement of Burmese workshops, renowned for their monumental sculptures destined for monasteries, Buddhist temples, and private devotional spaces. Its impressive height and harmonious proportions give it a remarkable presence, while retaining the gentleness characteristic of Burmese art.

The Mandalay style, the pinnacle of Burmese sculpture

The Mandalay kingdom represents one of the most brilliant periods of religious sculpture in Burma. Artists sought an idealized representation of the Buddha, characterized by a peaceful face, a slight smile, a slender body, and great fluidity in the treatment of the monastic robe. The gilding, lacquers, and decorative inlays enhance the light, recalling the spiritual nature of the Enlightened One.

The glass eyes, frequently used on quality works, reinforce the realism of the sculpture and create an almost living presence. This expressive approach is one of the signatures of the great Burmese workshops of the 19th century.

The Medicine Buddha and the myrobalan fruit

The left hand delicately holds the monastic robe (uttarāsaṅga), while the right hand presents a myrobalan fruit. This iconography evokes the Medicine Buddha, whose beneficial virtues occupy an important place in Buddhist traditions of Asia. More rarely represented than the Buddha in abhaya mudrā, this type of Buddha statue testifies to the richness of iconographic variants developed in Burma.

A prestigious provenance

This wooden Buddha statue comes from the estate of dealer and collector Claude de Marteau, who devoted much of his life to assembling major works from Asia. It was found among an important collection of ancient sculptures from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, and Tibet. It is sold with its certificate of provenance, guaranteeing its belonging to this recognized collection.

Archival photographs of Claude de Marteau: temple chofa and Buddha statues from Myanmar

The refinement of sculpture in Burmese Buddhist art

Burmese gilt-wood Buddha statues are particularly sought after today for the quality of their carving, the fineness of their expressions, and their strong decorative presence. They naturally find their place in a collection of Buddhist art or in a contemporary interior where they dialogue with antique furniture as well as modern architecture. This work constitutes a remarkable testimony to the excellence of religious sculpture from Burma (Myanmar) in the 19th century.

Most of these large Buddha statues left Myanmar in the 1950s or 60s, before being preserved for several decades in Claude de Marteau’s reserves. Having remained protected for more than forty or fifty years, they still present today a quality of carving, gilding, and polychromy that has become rare. Contemporary works often draw inspiration from these ancient models, but rarely recapture the fineness of execution, the richness of materials, and the presence possessed by Burmese sculptures from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Part of the Buddha statues from the Claude de Marteau Collection, gathered in the entrance of his house before the dispersal of several hundred ancient Asian artworks.

A fineness of execution characteristic of ancient Burmese Buddha statues.

Discover our collection of Buddha statues and ancient works from Burma (Myanmar)