Can you help me identify this Eastern sculpture?

July 15, 2015 1:56 AM

The sculpture shown here was given to me by a friend, who had bought it from a second-hand store. I have in vain searched the internet for the figure in the sculpture. It is a male person with slanted eyes, which rules out an Indian origin. He wears a tall hat with six attachments resembling ears or wings. His chest and shoulders are covered with a garment that may represent his status. He is seated cross-legged, holding a large, almost oversized bowl in his lap.
posted by paulfromgent to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Are those holes? Looks like an incense holder. Maybe that will help narrow it down?
posted by stellathon at 2:44 AM on July 15, 2015

flickr makes it bloody difficult, but if you search by image you get lots of similar images that may help.

(to my clueless eye it looks a lot like something my parents bought in bali)

ps click on the "similar images" link on that page to see more / better results.
posted by andrewcooke at 5:21 AM on July 15, 2015

It looks like a Thai incense burner to me, based on the elaborate headdress.
posted by Andrhia at 5:56 AM on July 15, 2015

Looks very Thai to me, the head-dress especially, but it doesn't look quite right. Could it be a knock off of a Thai statue? Like, something made by someone who admired the culture but didn't quite get it? The head-dress seems not-quite-there to me, like it's striving but not quite making it. Like a western tiki, that kind of thing.
posted by Jilder at 6:00 AM on July 15, 2015

Another vote for Thai or Indonesian.
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:07 AM on July 15, 2015