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Mandalay Buddha Statues,Mandalay Buddha Sculptures,Mandalay Buddha Figures

Mandalay Buddha Statues


Mandalay Buddha Statues Information

Towards the end of the eighteenth or early nineteenth century, a new style of Buddha image called the " Mandalay" style developed. Inthis style the oval face is separated from the hair by a wide fillet band which is sometimes lacquered and inlaid with glass. The head is marked by even rows of small, slightly raised, curls. A thick, round, fleshy usnisha sits at the crown of the head. There is no finial. The arch of the eyebrows is very natural and the eyes have a slightly Mongoloid slant. There is sometimes an urna between the eyebrows. The nose is quite prominent and the mouth, set in a "Mona Lisa" smile, is larger and the lips thicker than in the earlier images. The ears are narrower than in the Ava style, but they still curve outwards when viewed face on. Fingers and toes are occasionally not of equal length. The robes are rendered in thick loose folds suggestive of Chinese Buddhist drapery. There is a prominent decorated flap over the left shoulder and the ends of the robe often appear in a fish-tail pattern.

In this style Lord Buddha appears in either a sitting, standing, or reclining pose. From the mid nineteenth century onwards, more novelty has crept into the style of marble images. Elaborately crowned images with five to seven tiered crowns and side flanges have become popular, as have Buddha statues resting in the folds of a snake.

Marble continues to be a most popular medium today, while the art of sandstone sculpture seems to have disappeared. One can still see sculptors hard at work in the outer suburbs of Mandalay on the road to Amarapura, skillfully fashioning images for the faithful from marble which comes from the Sagyin area, twenty-two miles north of Mandalay. Some are occasionally inscribed by the donors, just as they were by their ancestors throughout the ages, with words such as:

"I, (name), have caused this image of the Blessed One to be made so that I might attain Deliverance. May the Gods, Devas and men, share my merit."

The " Mandalay" style, which has developed since the end of the eighteenth century and was so prevalent in bronze and marble, is often followed in wooden sculpture and occasionally in lacquer. In wood a little more licence has been taken than was the case with stone and bronze sculpture.

Craftsmen have obviously revelled in chiselling out the deep folds of the garments, particularly in standing and reclining images. Some carvers have not been averse to making some variations on the general clothing schema themselves, and the complex system of folds has been highlighted by borders of glass inlay. The fillet band separating the face from the hair on many images has also been set with inlaid decoration. The hair and fleshy usnisha, which has no finial, is usually covered in small lacquer curls wrought either in a circular or linear fashion. Sometimes the face is painted white rather than gilded. The hands on many images have been made separately and added later. The thrones are usually plain or in the form of a double lotus. Images in this style vary from 12 inches high seated statues to standing and reclining images of life-sized dimen-sions.There are a number of wooden images that are outstanding for their simplicity, indeed they resemble somewhat the bronzes of the post-Pagan period in style. The face is round and finely arched eyebrows frame small downcast eyes. The nose is long and pointed, and below it is a small smiling mouth. The The ears placed well back curve outwards as they touch the shoulders.

Mandalay Buddha Statues,Mandalay Buddha Sculptures,Mandalay Buddha Figures
Standing Buddha, marble, from Kyanthon-paya Pagoda in Sagaing, 20th century.

Mandalay Buddha Statues,Mandalay Buddha Sculptures,Mandalay Buddha Figures
Marble image from the Botataung Pagoda, Rangoon. Mandalay style, 20th century.

Mandalay Buddha Statues,Mandalay Buddha Sculptures,Mandalay Buddha Figures
Wooden Mandalay style Buddha, standing on lotus throne.Height 30 ins. 19th 20th century.
The head is covered by a cap of beaded lacquer curls while the usnisha is topped by a small bulbous finial. All are portrayed in the earth touching mudra with fingers of equal length. Simple clothing lines are lightly etched in on the red or black lacquer coating which covers the whole image. Some Buddha images sit on high waisted thrones while others sit on a platform supported by three to five elephants. The images vary in size from about 20 inches for a Buddha on a plain pedestal to 40 inches high for one mounted on elephants.

 As in images in marble and wood, the predominant style in metal today is the so-called Mandalay style which evolved during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Its blandly attractive, slightly Mongoloid face framed by a wide fillet band, and its heavily folded robes, have been beautifully transposed into bronze and other metals. Most of the new images in pagodas throughout the country are in this style. The Shwedagon in Rangoon has become a virtual repository for images of this type.


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Data Reference: Sylvia Fraser-Lu
Buddha Images : Arts of Asia March/April 1981 issue
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