A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, WAT TRA KUAN STYLE, SUKHOTHAI KINGDOMNorthern Thailand, late 14th to early 16th century. Seated in dhyanasana with his right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and his left resting on his lap, wearing a tight-fitting sanghati draped over his left shoulder. His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes painted white with dark pupils, below thick, elegantly arched brows, his full lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by long pendulous earlobes. The hair arranged in tight curls over the ushnisha surmounted by a conical jewel.Provenance: French trade. A noted Belgian private collection, acquired from the above.Condition: Good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, nicks, scratches, dents, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, solid patina with distinct areas of malachite and cuprite encrustations.Weight: 1,938 g (incl. stand)Dimensions: 22.5 cm (excl. stand) and 25.5 cm (incl. stand)Mounted on an associated modern wood stand. (2)The Buddhist templeplex Wat Tra Kuan was built by the Sukhothai Kingdom in the Old City of Sukhothai, north of Wat Mahathat. The ruins today consist of a main bell-shaped stupa and a chapel surrounded by a ditch. The original name of the temple has not survived, and according to a theory of Vajiravudh, the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI (r. 1910-1925), Tra Kuan is a Khmer term for Morning Glory. The temple is mentioned in a stone inscription discovered in 1955 at Wat Sorarsak, known as Inscription no. 49.Literatureparison:Compare a closely related bronze figure of Buddha, with similar painted eyes, illustrated in Lopetcharat, Thailand, A History in Buddha Image, vol. 1, Bangkok, 2006, p. 299.