A rare Thai bronze figure of the Emaciated Buddha

A rare Thai bronze figure of the Emaciated Buddha, Ratanakosin, seated in dhyanasana with hands in dhyana mudra and wearing a long dhoti and sash, his hair formed as spiky curls and with a domed usnisa finial, raised on a base decorated in relief with birds and animals in a rocky landscape frieze, late 19th / early 20th century, 89cm. Provenance: By repute, commissioned by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), Thailand Prince Damrong Rajanubhab,Thailand Dr Johan Möger, Netherlands Jean Thomassen, Netherlands Purchased, Sotheby's, New York, 26th March 1998, lot 211. Images of the Emaciated Buddha are unusual in Thai tradition, but depict Prince Siddhartha in his ascetic period. Despite his father's attempts to deny the existence of the sick, aged and suffering, Siddharta's discovery of their struggles led him to a life of denial, where he allowed himself just one grain of rice a day in order to purify his body and rid himself of earthly temptations. After reaching near starvation, he realised that he should follow a middle path, exercising moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Thereafter, aged 35, he reached Enlightenment to become Gautama Buddha.