A MONUMENTAL (214 CM) GILT-LACQUERED WOOD STATUE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, SHAN STATES, 17TH CENTURY

A MONUMENTAL (214 CM) GILT-LACQUERED WOOD STATUE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, SHAN STATES, 17TH CENTURY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 571, Leo A. 1990, Ex FH, Burmese Shan Giant Buddha, Gilded wood, 17th c. ca. 180 cm ex. Flame”
Gallery price: EUR 127,000 or approx.

EUR 212,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.

Expert's note:
Buddha images substantially larger than life size, such as the present lot, are typically seen as the principal images in early Shan temples. For a comparable example, see a Buddha statue at the Shwe Indein Pagoda, a complex dating from the 12th-13th century.

Burma, Shan state. Well carved seated upon a shaped pedestal with the right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the left hand placed in his lap. The serene face with downcast eyes, and pursed lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes. The hair arranged in spiked curls over the ushnisha, rising to a large, separately carved bud-form finial.

Provenance: Freddy Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, by 1990. Collection of Leo Albrecht, Denmark, acquired from the above. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above before 2005. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for at least 21 years. Bruun Rasmussen, 29 November 2012, lot 836/ 587, mid-estimate DKK 750,000 or approx.

EUR 125,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

Freddy Hansen was a Danish dealer of Asian art and antiquities, particularly Buddhist sculpture. Based in Copenhagen, he was active from the 1950s onward and became one of Denmark's most prominent dealers in Asian art before his retirement in the early 1990s.

Leo Albrecht was a German-born publisher and literary agent who established himself in Copenhagen after the Second World War. In 1951 he founded his agency, which played an important role in expanding the international market for Scandinavian literature. He began collecting art in the late 1950s, with a particular focus on Asian sculpture. In Copenhagen, he spent much of his time visiting antique dealers, museums, and exhibitions. He developed especially close ties with Ole Haslund, Lau Sunde, and Freddy Hansen, among the most prominent dealers in their fields. He also traveled frequently to London, where he became close friends with Adrian Maynard. Jorgen Ruben first met Albrecht in 1984, and they quickly became close friends. Ruben later described him as a gentleman and “the greatest collector of Asian art in Denmark.” He acquired Albrecht's entire Asian sculpture collection when Albrecht moved back to Germany after selling his publishing company. The two remained close, with Albrecht continuing to visit Denmark each summer and staying at the Ruben family's beach house north of Copenhagen.

Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.

Important Note: For essential information on the

Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger

Condition: Good condition with expected old wear, signs of weathering, flaking to lacquer with associated minor old repairs, rubbing and minor losses to gilt and lacquer, some losses to plinth, expected age cracks, minor losses mostly to hair, old repairs to sections of the finial and right arm, few old fills and minor touchups, some of the gilt probably renewed over the centuries.

Weight: 190 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 214 cm (excl. base), 223 cm (incl. base)

Mounted on a massive hardwood base with a central bronze plaque inscribed 'Buddha Sakyamuni. Burma Shan 17th century'. (2)

The founding of Shan States inside the present-day boundaries of Burma began during the Pagan Kingdom in the Shan Hills and accelerated after 1287 when the Kingdom fell to the Mongols. The Tai people, who came south with the Mongols, stayed, and quickly came to dominate much of the northeastern arc of Burma. The newly founded Shan States were multi-ethnic and included minorities such as the Chin, the Kachin, the Wa, the Ta'ang, the Lisu, the Lahu, the Pa O, and the Kayah. Although Burmanized Shans founded the Ava Kingdom that ruled central Burma, other Shan States, Mohnyin in particular, constantly raided Ava territories throughout the years. A Mohnyin-led Confederation of Shan States finally conquered Ava in 1527.

In 1555, King Bayinnaung dislodged Shan king Sithu Kyawhtin from Ava. By 1557 he went on to conquer all of what would become known as the Burmese Shan States under his rule, from the Assamese border in the northwest to those in Kachin and Shan Hills, including the two most powerful Shan States, Mohnyin and Mogaung. The Shan States were reduced to the status of governorships, but the Saophas (rulers) were permitted to retain their royal regalia and their feudal rights over their own subjects. Bayinnaung introduced Burmese customary law and prohibited all human and animal sacrifices. He also required the sons of Saophas to reside in the Burmese king's palace, essentially hostages, in order to ensure the good conduct of their fathers and to receive training in Burmese court life.

Within this layered political arrangement, the distinct Shan style of Buddhist art emerged: a localized sculptural idiom shaped by Tai traditions, courtly patronage, and cross-regional influences, including Mon, Burmese, and Lanna aesthetics. Though not coterminous with the Shan States themselves, Shan style sculpture flourished within their territories, often serving as expressions of religious devotion, regional identity, and elite legitimacy under shifting regimes of power.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related smaller gilt-lacquered wood figure of Buddha, dated to the 18th century, 93.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1872,0701.3.

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