LARGE 13th CENT BURMESE PAGAN BAGAN PERIOD BUDDHA HEAD 700+ YEARS -FROM GREAT PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION Start Price USD 4,500.00 Current Price USD 4,500.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, September 03, 2008 End Time Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Location New York, New York See more about 'LARGE 13th CENT BURMESE PAGAN BAGAN PERIOD BUDDHA HEAD' Description You are bidding on very rare, unique and Gorgeous EXTRA LARGE Late Pagan (Bagan) Period Carved Giltwood Gold and Red Burmese Buddha Head (700+ years old).   PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A VERY RARE ITEM BECAUSE MOST OF THE WOOD ITEMS FROM THAT PERIOD ARE LOST   The carvings details of this statue are amazing and well preserved for its age. This Buddha head was probably removed from a very large Buddha Statue. It comes with a stand.   This is one of my favorites from my collection.   Please see description of Pagan Period Below.   I bought this Fantastic Image from a very unique Southeast Asian Collection from Bangkok many years ago with other Thai and Burmese Buddha images. I will be offering some of those statues on ebay. They are all authentic and from reliable sources and have been part of my collection for a long time. I am a very honest collector and seller and my feedback on ebay in perfect and I am working very hard to keep it like that.   I do have a huge collection (in New York - of more than 200 pieces) of Southeast Asian Buddha images and have a very extensive knowledge about Southeast Asia Buddha images, as I have been to Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia Several times.   Before you bid it is important to understand some facts about Asian Buddha Wood Images (just in case you don't know). The old Buddha Statues were usually offered outside pagodas and some were buried. Some were parts of Temples. Most of them, especially the wood ones, have normal cracks, chips and paint loss due to many years of exposure to weather and other "deteriorating" conditions.   CONDITION: I will try my best to report the accurate condition of all images I am offering on ebay. This Statue has the typical surface small chips of Old Wood Asian Buddha Images. Surface scratch and dirt. Typical Paint Loss. This image was probably removed from a temple's large Buddha image and its base and right lateral have indications of that (PLEASE SEE PHOTOS)   Otherwise it has the typical wear and tear of old Asian Statues due to aging and use which adds character to this absolutely stunning and important collector's item. This is a fantastic collector's item.   PLEASE DO NOT BID IF YOU ARE NOT SURE ABOUT IT.   PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THIS IS A HEAVY STATUE.   Please see pictures and feel free to ask me any questions about this item. I will be offering several fantastic Southeast Asian REAL ANTIQUE Buddha images on ebay including wood, bronze and alabaster).   It measures:   20 1/2"Tall (52cm) 8"Wide (20.3cm) 7 1/2"Deep (19cm)   On Stand: 25" Tall (63.5cm)   Burma and Thailand are my favorite places in the world. If you haven't been there yet you don't know what you are missing.   PLEASE READ THIS: I am an extremely honest person and have excellent reputation and feedback on ebay (feel free to check it). I will make everything possible to make any ebay transaction a smooth and positive experience. I will also try to describe the item as accurate as possible. Feel free to ask me any questions and for additional photos.   I only offer unique high quality items bought from very diverse sources, collections and estates.   I’ll be offering other important art images, paintings, photographs and antiques on ebay.   Bid with confidence.   Good Luck   __________________________________________________________________   Pagan and Early Burma Pagan, today a small town of perhaps 2,000 inhabitants, was the capital of the first Burmese kingdom for about 250 years between the mid-eleventh and the end of the thirteenth centuries. During this period, more than 2,500 religious monuments, mostly Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries, were constructed in and around the city. At the end of the thirteenth century, the city ceased to be a political center, having falled victim to demographic disruptions, economic exhaustion, and military pressure from the Mongols, though it kept its status as a sacred center and a place of learning until the end of the last Burmese kingdom. Art and architecture As capital of an empire, Pagan combined political and religious supremacy. The surroundings of the city were a field of merit where kings, members of the royal family, and the court, commoners and monks invested material wealth in order to accumulate religious merit. More than 2,500 religious buildings, constructed over a period of about 250 years, bear witness of this. But even after it had ceased to be capital, the city was able to maintain its position as a sacred centre, where new monasteries were built or damaged temples repaired. Both the chronicles and inscriptions contain numerous references to constructions throughout the ages. Despite these efforts, the city slowly fell into ruin. The damage was caused mainly by treasure hunters or by people in search of cheap bricks for their own homes, but on several occasions Pagan was also hit by earthquakes. The most recent one occured in 1974 and caused considerable damage, as some temples lost their tops or collapsed altogether. International aid came to the rescue, providing help for preservation and restoration, on the one hand, and a detailed survey of the monuments, on the other. The Inventory of Monuments at Pagan, published by Pierre Pichard from the EFEO in Paris, comprises seven volumes to date with two more to come. Since the mid-1990s, the restoration and renovation of Pagan has become a national affair. Newspaper advertisements solicit donations to sponsor the work done by the Archaeology Department and the Public Works Department. Excavations have brought to light a number of new inscriptions, but at the same time certain reservations have to be raised about the way ancient monuments were renovated or even rebuilt completely. Pagan architecture provides several interesting features. One of the most striking is the regular use of the true vault arching over the halls of temples and monasteries. Another particularity are the pentagonal groundplans which seem to represent the five Buddhas of the present kalpa. As far as we can tell, the Dhammayazika stupa, finished in AD 1198 AD, is the oldest dated pentagonal monument in the world. Finally, the decoration of the monuments is very noteworthy. Many of them are embellished with very fine stuccoes made of a plaster which is extremely durable; it has been suggested that it was prepared with certain gum. Another means of external decoration were terracotta plaques, mostly depicting scenes from Buddha's former lives as narrated in the Jatakas. Sometimes a green glazing was added. The interior of about half of the temples at Pagan were painted all over with various motifs. Again, scenes from the Jatakas were prominent; but the history of Buddhism or simply an endless repetition of Buddha images (usually in the earth-touching gesture) are also common motifs. While the study of single temples and their artistic attributes has a rather long tradition, the first overall survey of art and architecture was presented by Luce in his Old Burma Early Pagan. The most recent work on the art history of Pagan was edited by Don Stadtner (The Art of Burma, Mumbai: New Studies, 1999) and contains six articles on early Burmese art. Claudine Bautze-Picron and Pratapaditya Pal show how closely Pagan artists followed stylistic patterns borrowed from Pala Bengal, thereby indicating the direction in which comparative research in Pagan-Burmese, Bengal, and Tibetan art should proceed. Place a Bid!