Help w/ a Buddha ?

A friend picked this up this week and I volunteered to do a wee bit o research for him.He' d like to know age and place of origin.
I don't have it with me but here's a few rough stats- it's about 15 inches tall and is quite heavy (still filled with sand,something else ?).
That's about all we can tell you all, no provenance or backstory whatsover.
-All guesses and/or theories most welcome !
@Any Jewelry @2manybooks

 

Thailand ...maybe bronze.... late 1800's.... to mid 1900's.....

imho..

 

Thanks for the FB Komo.

 

my pleasure !!!

 

Agree with komo, this one is from Thailand. 19th century imo.
He is a typical Thai Buddha style called "Wednesday Buddha". One Wednesday, when he was expected to visit his father's palace, the Buddha went out without having breakfast to collect food and alms for the poor instead.
This Buddha is missing the begging bowl, which he should be cradling in his hands.

He is bronze, but Asian bronzes are different alloys from Western bronzes.

The core left after casting.

 

Thanks a bunch AJ and Komo- I'll let my guy know about this.Love that he's a hungry Wednesday Buddha,albeit absent-minded,'Where's my bowl ?'

 

Hunger causes brainfog.

 

Exactly, and I'm foggy enough without fasting !

 

Interesting. Somewhere I also
have a seated Thai statue
with a similar hardend
black core (I did
wonder about it,got it a few years ago) Does it relate to the possible age of the item and when the casting was done? Or are things still being made exactly the same way today? Thanks

 

I have seen it on old and new Thai bronzes. I think it depends on the type of material that was used for the core, which could depend on the location, type of clay or soil. I guess if it was too hard to remove they just kept it in place.

It is different in, for instance, the Himalayas, where religious bronzes often contained blessings. In order to do that the core had to be removed.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for the info AJ.