Bagan Votive Tablet  Pagan Empire, Burma (Myanmar), 11th–12th Century
A terracotta votive tablet from the early Pagan Empire, depicting the Buddha seated in bhūmisparśa mudrā beneath the Mahabodi temple at Bodh Gaya, flanked by stupas. 
The Pagan Kingdom (c. 849–1287) was the first polity to unify the Irrawaddy valley, and its classical art was forged during the reigns of its two great conqueror-kings. Anawrahta (r. 1044–1077) annexed the Mon kingdom of Thaton in 1057, transplanting to the upper Irrawaddy the Mon Theravāda tradition, Pali canonical texts, and Indian Pala sculptural models. His successor Kyanzittha (r. 1084–1112) further consolidated the empire and lavished patronage on monumental architecture such as the Ananda Temple, while court ateliers synthesized Mon, Pyu, and Bengali influences into a distinctive Burmese imperial style.
Bodh Gaya — the site of the Buddha's enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree — occupied a position of unique sanctity in Pagan Buddhism. Votive tablets depicting this scene were mass-produced in ceramic moulds as merit-making objects for deposition in temple foundations and pagoda relic chambers. The crisp modelling, balanced composition, and presence of a dedicatory inscription indicate a high-quality production, characteristic of the refined devotional arts patronised during the formative decades of the Pagan Empire.
Size: 18 cm high
Provenance: English private collection
Condition: Sign of age