Head of a Buddha

ca. 1700

In 1909, Charles Lang Freer purchased this and three other bronze heads of the Buddha from the American Art Galleries in New York City (F1909.48-51). This Buddha's face appears youthful, with upturned corners of the lips, slightly pointed ears, a peaked hairline, and long neck. These and other features indicate a date within Thailand's Ayyuthaya period, when the great capital city lined with Buddhas was constructed (14th--15th century). Thailand's Buddhist art is remarkable for the way the image of the Buddha transforms subtly across centuries of casting in bronze.