AN IVORY FIGURE OF A BOY

Myanmar or Thailand, 18-19th century

Footnotes

緬甸或泰國 十八至十九世紀 男童象牙雕塑

Provenance:
Sotheby's London, 25 November 1980, Lot 191
Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2012, Lot 49
Private Collection, United Kingdom

Literature:
For related examples see Tardy. Les Ivoires, Part II, 1977, p. 204, as well as a similar piece given a Thai attribution from the Pitt Rivers Museum collection in Sotheby's. Catalogue of Tibetan, Nepalese, Indian and South-east Asian Art, London, 25 November 1980, Lot 191, p.102. Two other similar examples are in the collection of the National Museum, Bangkok.


Carved in the round and standing upright in elongated proportions, this spirited and playful portrayal of a male youth is given a plump and gentle smile, highly-arched incised eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and cherub-like features. He is identifiable only by his hairstyle, typical of Thai male children prior to 1932, and is seemingly contemporaneous with the pre-nationalist period.

In Thailand, it was a long-standing tradition for the sons of the monarch and high-ranking aristocrats to wear their hair in a topknot. This practice may have evolved from legends and depiction of the gods of the Hindu pantheon, with their hair drawn back in a tight coil at the top of their heads. It was believed that imitating this coiffure would protect Thai children from harm (Svasti, Pichaya. Luminescent rite of passage, Bangkok Post, 26 August 2014, Retrieved 2nd February 2019). In this piece, the opening in the topknot would have held a gold or jewelled hairpin. The elongated limbs, generous width between them and the body, in a truly luxurious use of material, suggests that this forever child was meant to be dressed.

While Thailand is ostensibly a Buddhist country, it also displays a great degree of religious syncretism where superstition and spirits play a major role. The ivory boy would have served as a talisman for good fortune, and his sound condition today demonstrates that he was handled with great regard and care.