AGE: – 18th Century
CONSTRUCTION: – Hollow Lacquer
DESCRIPTION: – Antique Burmese Hollow Lacquer Praying Monks

HEIGHT: – 39cm
WIDTH: – 17cm
DEPTH: – 20cm
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#2011

Antique Burmese Hollow Lacquer Praying Monks, once gilded but now worn, exposing the red lacquer which was made with a sticky substance derived from the sap of a deciduous tree known as Melanorrhoea Usitata found in Burma and northern Thailand to make a reddish undercoat in preparation for gilding.

This pair of praying monks are in a praying posture on top of a single lotus pedestal. We suspect the pedestals may have been a double lotus pedestal. The bottom half possibly was too damaged for restoration and removed, we are unsure.

We consider this pair of monks to be quite rare and highly likely of an earlier period than stated above, the style of these monk statues is quite different to those made during the Mandalay period and similar to those of the Post Pagan era.

This is an interesting article on the art of making  hollow lacquer sculptures