The Sultanganj Buddha

myminifactory

Title The Sultanjanj Buddha Artist Unknown Date 500-700 AD Medium Bronze Dimensions Height, 223 cm Accession # 1885A1116 Credit Presented by Samuel Thornton, 1864 This bronze statue of the Buddha was of the first objects to enter the collections, and remains among the most significant works in Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery.The Sultanganj Buddha is the largest known complete Indian bronze sculpture. Cast by the lost-wax technique on a clay core, this statue was excavated by E B Harris, a railway engineer, at Sultanganj in northern India during the course of railway construction in 1862. The Sultanganj Buddha is a Gupta-Pala transitional period sculpture, the largest substantially complete copper Buddha figure known from this time. The statue is dated by archaeologists to between 500 to 700 AD. It is 2.3m high and 1m wide, weighs over 500 kg. It was found in the North Indian town of Sultanganj, Bhagalpur district, Bihar in 1861 during the construction of the East Indian Railway. The Sultanganj Buddha was cast in pure, but unrefined copper by the cire perdue or lost wax technique. The Buddha statue stands with his right hand raised in abhayamudra (a gesture of reassurance or protection), while his left hand is held downwards with palm outwards, said to indicate granting a favour. The end of the monastic robe is held between the thumb and forefinger of this hand in the manner still practised by Theravadin monks to this day.   This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)