Collection Buddhism, sculptures in bronze.

The historical Buddha or Shakyamuni Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism, was born as Prince Siddhartha in 563 B.C., attained enlightenment at the age of thirty five, and died at the age of eighty.

One of the oldest descriptions of the physical appearance of the Buddha image appears in the Lakkana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya that is part of the orthodox Pali Canon. In this text the Buddha is described as having the thirty-two marks, laksana, of the "Great or Universal Man", mahapurusa. This provided artists with  symbolic description of the Buddha. These characteristics can be seen on Thai images, with the exception of the swirl between theeyesbrows, urna.

Thai artists used the lost wax or cire perdue method to cast image. The image would be modeled in wax by the sculptor. The molten metal would be poured into the mold and allowed to cool. The mold was broken away, the casting flues were cut off, and any flows in the surface were filled.