18TH C. LAOTIAN TAI LUE BUDDHA

Another wonderful indiosyncratic Lao buddha.  It contains all the elements one would want from a tribal piece.  Note the elephant on the base.  It has a beautiful variegated patina, with green, brown, and rust colored elements.  It stands a very large 23 1/2 inches high, and is very heavy.  There are some chews to the base in back which are not visible on display and do not affect the stability.  This piece was vetted into the NY Tribal Show by Martin Lerner, the former head of the Metropolitan Museum's Southeast Asia department.  If you are looking for a knockout folk piece, you won't find any better than this.