A LARGE THAI BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA2ND HALF 17TH CENTURYStanding with both hands raised in abhaya mudra, wearing an elaborate crown and robes falling from his shoulders, his content face with an aquiline nose and well-defined arched eyebrows, with elongated flaring earlobes curling at the ends, all upon an octagonal pedestal, 151cm, 70kg.Provenance: formerly an American private collection; and then catalogue no.35, ST459 in Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art's 2008 exhibition Brilliance from the East: an Important Exhibition of Indian, Southeast Asian and Chinese Art; and then the collection of Mr Richard Nathanson (d.2018), London, purchased from Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art on 4th February 2009. A copy of the invoice is available.Cf. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, accession nos.54.2542 and 54.2810 for two comparable bronze heads of similar date from the Alexander B Griswold Collection.Richard Nathanson began his career at Sotheby's in 1966 and was immediately captivated by Impressionist and early 20th century art. He subsequently set up as an independent art advisor in that field, in which he became well respected and known, in particular for his involvement with the work of artists such as Sisley, Modigliani, Rouault, Bonnard and Albert Houthuesen. During his lifelong career in the art world, Richard expanded his expertise across time and space and gathered an extraordinarily eclectic collection of artworks which included classical, medieval, African, Asian and Oceanic pieces as well as folk art, natural forms and early toys. As he learnt more about these cultures and the art they inspired, his profound admiration for them grew, broadening his spiritual and philosophical outlook. He observed the intense affinities between these pieces, sometimes separated by millennia and thousands of miles and was fascinated by the conversations that arose between these various expressions of human experience. Richard felt that art had the ability to give hope and inspiration in the human quest for truth and beauty.