Wooden sculpture of a Burmese Nat

• Ancient Burmese wooden sculpture representing one of the 37 Nat, guardian spirits of religion.
• Burma (Myanmar), 18th/19th century.
• Good condition for its age, vestige of polychromy, particularly on the back.
• Provenance: Estate of Asian art dealer and collector Claude de Marteau
• Sold with certificate of origin.
• A second Nat is also available (see last photo).
• H 77 cm x W 18 cm x D 12 cm

Sasana Nat (in Pali-Burmese, sasana nat means guardian of religion) are ancient Hindu deities. There are 37 Nats, and they continue to be venerated in Burma (Myanmar) to this day, with pilgrimage sites, temples, relic sites and festivals. Nats have human characteristics, desires and needs. They are often described as imperfect and having taboo or immoral desires in traditional Buddhism.

Statues like this one, which venerate them, reflect this human dimension, with their faces often showing a wider range of emotions than those of the Buddha, more impassive or meditative. Buddhism has integrated them through syncretism, and it’s not uncommon to see them in temples, although the Buddha always predominates in these cases.