50. 50W TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE THAÏLANDE DU NORD, ROYAUME DE LAN NA, VERS 1470-1503 27.5 cm (10 7/8 in.) high A COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF BUDDHA NORTHERN THAILAND, LAN NA KINGDOM, CIRCA 1470-1503 泰國北部 蘭納王國 約1470-1503年 銅佛首 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1980s This bronze head of the Buddha is an example of the 'Sihing' type established during the Lan Na Kingdom's golden age under King Tilok (r. 1441-87), that proliferated under King Mueang Kaeo (r.1495-1525). Variously termed 'Early Chiang Saen', 'Phra Singh', or 'Sihing' by different scholars (the latter two meaning 'lion'), this Buddha head invokes the more sensuous and robust treatment of the body of the period. Among the head's Sihing stylistic features are its prominent snail shell curls arranged into a thinly banded heart-shaped hairline. Its high arching brow converging at the nose, gracefully upswept eyes, and soft ovoid shape follow the late 15th and early 16th century Lan Na Buddha images produced in Chiang Mai and neighboring Lamphun. For example, compare with two masterpieces held in Wat Pa Sang Ngam in Lamphun, including one dated 1501 (Stratton, Buddhist Sculptures of Northern Thailand, 2004, pp. xxxiv & 223-5, nos. C.16, C.17, 8.71, 8.73 & 8.78). The Sihing image's dating has been long debated, but numerous examples are dated by inscription to the last quarter of the 15th century, and Woodward, Jr. suggests that 1470-1503, a period bookended by the earliest and one of the later known dated images, provides the range in which most of the uninscribed yet more beautifully-made sculptures can be placed (Woodward, Jr., The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand, 1997, p. 210).