Head of Crowned Buddha

Description At the back of this head- as a substitute for, rather than a development of, the ornament on 16th-century crowns- are scrolling tendrils and leaves, which take a place in an international panorama of related designs; the Europeanized stucco decor at Wat Tawêt; the designs on certain Japanese enamelled porcelain vases made for export around the 1670s; and the assimilated and vibrantly rhythmic patterns in contemporary gilt-lacquer ornament.

Exhibitions

• Unearthly Elegance: Buddhist Art from the Griswold Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1995.

Provenance Nakhon Kasem, Bangkok; Alexander B. Griswold, Monkton, 1946, by purchase, [presented to the Breezewood Foundation, 1985, inv. no. 808]; Walters Art Museum, 1992, by bequest.

Inscriptions none

Credit Bequest of A. B. Griswold, 1992