Sangkachai monk, Mon, Burma.
- This figure of a healthy monk, seated with his hands on his stomach, is that of Phra Sangkachai, worshipped as a wealth-generating deity. He is sometimes confused with the Chinese Laughing Buddha, or Budai, incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya.
- He was probably an Arhat (lower state of awakening to Buddhahood) renowned for his mastery of Dharma teaching. Such was his beauty that he constantly had to fend off the advances of all and sundry, he was even sometimes mistakenly revered as a Buddha. Phra Sangkachai gave in to obesity in order to put an end to the boundless admiration he was the object of.
- Lacquered, gilded and carved wood.
- Mon work, Burma (Myanmar), 19th century.
- Provenance: Estate of collector and art dealer Claude de Marteau. www. thecdm.be
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