This posture, characteristic of Lao Buddhist iconography, represents a fundamental agrarian and spiritual ritual associated with the monsoon cycle in Southeast Asia. During the 17th and 18th centuries, under the Lan Xang kingdom and subsequently during the emergence of regional principalities, local bronze casters developed a distinctive, refined and frontal style. The vigorous artisanal lost-wax casting technique lends these provincial bronzes a highly expressive and almost naïve aesthetic of striking modernity, in which the fluid line of the body contrasts with the strict geometry of the pedestal.
 
This lost-wax cast bronze sculpture depicts the standing Buddha in the “Calling for Rain” posture, known as Pha Ra Chroen Nam. The Buddha stands upon a stepped, moulded quadrangular pedestal. The face, with its gentle archaic smile, features finely incised half-closed eyes, long tapering earlobes and a conical ushnisha rising into a stylised flame. The sculpture displays a deep dark patina, with areas of pronounced mineralisation.
 
Condition: Good overall condition considering its age. Casting losses to the pedestal. Attractive deep chocolate-brown patina.