The pieces pictured here, kindly loaned by several private collectors for study, are mostly between 5 and 10 centimetres tall. They are of a type and size that does not appear to be particularly popular with travel photographers, art book writers or museums. Some may have been used for domestic worship in the past, or left at temples as votive offerings. Others may have been made especially to be buried beneath a temple, or within a larger image- what Griswold called "storage batteries of Buddhist energy". The owner of the three bronzes on the left was told they had been found within the arm of a larger statue at Ayuthya, in Thailand.

Are they "real"? Provenance is an old problem both for the archaeologist and the art collector. A good rule of thumb is if you dig it up yourself, from a previously untouched level of a professionally conducted archaeological dig, and then ideally date it from the large chunk of carbon adhering to it, it's "genuine". The artifact then becomes- or should become- part of a museum or study collection. The astute private collector should watch out for the occasional museum surplus sale, as one way of appropriately and legally acquiring works of art or samples of artifacts. It cannot be stressed too much that everybody, including archaeologists, should be scrupulous in their dealings with artworks or archaeological specimens. The images shown here were given to their owners as gifts, inherited from family members, or bought from reputable dealers. They are as "authentic" as one's opinion of them goes, in terms of style, but as for actual age and origin- no evidence is available!

What makes these small artifacts especially appealing is that they appear to be individually made. All are bronze, which is not a particularly easy medium to work with, and the modelling in many cases is eccentric, and not easy to link to any of the major historical styles of Buddha image. The difficulty of modelling facial features on the small wax originals is also apparent in some of the finished products. The image on the left has had a piece of metal brazed on to it at the rear centre, almost as an afterthought, after casting, so it will stand up. The fact that so many of these images were made over the centuries is a tribute to the piety of the Buddhist artisans who made them- and that's without even considering the enormous number of votary medals and tablets made in bronze or ceramics.

The commercial manufacture of bronze Buddha images is a continuing industry in Thailand. If you're ever in the central city of Phitsanulok, the local Budda factory, which makes reproductions of the city's famed central image, is happy to give visitors conducted tours. But from enquiries and observation at temples, stalls and markets, I have been unable to detect any continuation of manufacture at cottage level of these tiny bronzes. Perhaps home artisans skilled in bronze work now find it more profitable to sub-contract for Thailand's "antique factories"- turning out decorator items and what are loosely but proudly called "antiques". That has certainly been the case with many traditional woodworkers, weavers and potters.

FICKLE, DOROTHY. 1989 Images of the Buddha in Thailand. Cambridge. (A neat little book about Buddhist stylistic development.)
MAJUPURIA, T.C & ROHIT KUMAR  1998 Gods and Goddesses Publisher: Smt. M.D. Gupta. Lashkar, India ISBN 974-7315-54-8 (An illustrated account of Hindu, Buddhist, Tantric, Hybrid and Tibetan deities. The book focuses on Nepal, and is an excellent introduction to the  images of northern or Mahayana Buddhism as well as Hindu gods. It is wonderfully illustrated, and beautifully presented. Available at many bookshops in Bangkok, as it was printed in Thailand).
MATICS, K I. 1998 Gestures of the Buddha Chulalongkorn University Press, Bangkok. ISBN 974-635-068-4 (A comprehensive, illustrated study of the hand gestures and body positions of the Buddha image- focuses on the Theravada Buddhist images of Thailand).
SNELLGROVE, DAVID (Ed) 1978 The Image of the Buddha Serindia/UNESCO. (A top-class study of the origins and spread of the Buddha Image).
TAMBIAH, STANLEY. 1984 The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of the Amulets. Cambridge. (A fascinating anthropological study of Buddhist culture, focusing on Thailand.)
VAN BEEK, STEVE, and TETTONI, LUCA INVERNIZZI 1985. The Arts of Thailand. Travel Publishing Asia. (Profusely illustrated and sensibly written- looks at the transition in art and architecture from early Khmer to Thai styles).
WOODWARD, HIRAM W (Ed)  1997 The sacred sculpture of Thailand : the Alexander B. Griswold collection.   University of Washington Press. (An excellect  historical, stylistic and scientific study of a classic collection of Thai Buddha images.)
Please also click this link for a big list of university-level references specific to the Medieval Burmese capital, Pagan

** Books are quaint old fashioned things made out of paper. They are often found in libraries. They are often just as much use to the student as researching material on the Internet :-)