Twenty-two years have now passed since we were called to do an estate that had been closed up for seventeen years.

The Voodoo Estate!

This type of call usually gets us excited as they are a treasure trove.  Located here in Florida, there was no electricity or running water so we rigged our own lighting and in we went.  If you have ever seen the Adams Family you will have some idea as to what we were greeted with!  Then the attorney handling the liquidation gave us some background.  The estate had belonged to an alleged powerful Voodoo Priestess/JooJoo Exorcist, grand daughter of a Marie Laveau, and favored daughter of a Marie Glapion. 

These names meant nothing to us, but the late night talk of Voodoo and exorcism in the old mansion was enough to make us decide to spend the night in a hotel and return in the morning to assess the estate.  The rest is history. 

Our research has shown that this woman was what she claimed and was indeed descended from a long line of well known Vodoun family originating in New Orleans in the early 1800's.  We were pretty unnerved by this until we discovered they were also devout Catholics!  Although I have to admit this was unlike any Catholic home we have ever been in and some of the items found inside were a little more than disturbing.

There was no feeling of dread or unwelcome in the mansion, however there was quite a bit of contraband and other items we can or will not sell here.

This is one of a few pieces from this estate we will be listing this week, so check our other listings. 

We will, upon the new guardian's request, issue a named Letter of Authenticity with each piece from this estate, complying with the terms set forth to us by the estate's attorney. 

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Some Back Story

This is one of seven nearly identical Buddha depictions recovered from an opened shipping carton from Thailand dated 1980.  It was one of five such packages containing Buddhist depictions that were marked "Main Library" in grease pencil and apparently found their way to the storage room that served the library and sat there unopened for the next twenty-one years when we came along in 2001!  Talk about New Old Stock!

After examination, we are confident in declaring these as being from the same craftsman who is mentioned in her 1980 Thai journal entries which tells us she found them on a Thai craftsman/vendor's shelf and immediately took a liking to them. 

 This vendor was also commissioned to make a group of custom made, "ornamental Gold Leaf Resin Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) Sugar Skulls" for her which were also recovered from this estate.

Another pair of these depictions were recovered from a table in the main foyer of this estate and were apparently displayed on a rotating basis.  These offered here were never used or displayed at this estate.

Examination of this depiction reveals it is a dense, heavy resin material that has been painted gold with no signs of damage or repair.  As the name implies, it is a depiction of Gautama Buddha in a mudra unknown to us, which is described as Brahma Dhyana Mudra in her inventory.

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Gautama Buddha in Brahma Dhyana Mudra

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was born in the sixth century B.C., in what is now modern Nepal.  His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya people and Siddhartha grew up living the extravagant life of a young prince.  According to custom, he married at the age of sixteen.

 

His father had ordered that he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out into the world and was confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering of life.  The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and newborn son to lead an ascetic life and determine a way to relieve universal suffering.

For six years, He submitted himself to rigorous ascetic practices, studying and following different methods of meditation with various religious teachers.  But he was never fully satisfied.  One day, however, he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and he accepted it.  In that moment, he realized that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation.  From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism.  He called this The Middle Way.

That night Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree, and meditated until dawn.  He purified his mind of all defilements and attained enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Enlightened One."  For the remainder of his eighty years, the Buddha preached the Dharma in an effort to help other sentient beings reach enlightenment.

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Depicted here in traditional robes in what her inventory tells us is the Brahman Dhyana mudra he is otherwise a Buddha whose image reflects the Chinese influence of executed design.  These Buddha images typically feature the lotus bud or orb shaped head finial and large hair curls.  The torso is plump, the face is round and smiling, with high curving highbrows and large ears elongated from piercings and heavy earrings worn when he was younger.

Other than the mudra, this particular iconography is known to exist in many depictions from different areas under the influence of Buddhism such as Nepal, India, Burma, Thailand, etc.

The Buddhist teachings of hatred, delusion, clinging and greed causing suffering in the world, which The Eightfold path of the Buddha has shown to be a way of ridding oneself of these traits and obtain a higher peace in one's life and reality.  Being under the gaze of the Buddha reminds one to have ethical behavior, practice meditation, make ritual offerings and have the feeling of generosity in life so as to let go of hatred, delusion, clinging and greed.

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Brahma Dhyana Mudra

The gestures performed by the hands of a Buddha image (mudras) have specific meanings that refer to some event in the life of the Buddha or denote a special characteristic.

In a single inventory entry this Buddha is described as "in Brahma Dhyana Mudra" which, to our knowledge does not exist.  We spent months pouring over her journals, numerous texts, the internet and sought the opinions of our own proclaimed expert associates, to no avail.  We believe it was named as such for lack of another name, and one can easily see the similarities to the Brahma and Dhyana mudras, but there are distinct missing elements of these gestures.

We believe this is an artist's privilege rendition which the Thai Ministry of Culture, Fine Arts Department would not have been legal for sale or export today.

It may also be one of the things that attracted them to this depiction, as she and many of her associates seemed to find favor in adorning and placing their jewelry and gemstones in the lap and/or hands of their inconogaphic idols as they felt this imparted certain positive aspects to the subject items.

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But Back to the Buddha

He measures approximately 13" in height x 8/5/8" in length x 6 15/16" in width.

 

Black Felt Bottom.

He weighs 3 lbs., 1 oz.

 

This is certainly a nicely aged depiction of Lord Buddha with an extraordinary provenance that is much nicer than the photographs are able to depict.

 

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We have been contacted and visited by a number of people who were interested in the items from this estate since our first batch was listed. Among the buyers have been known psychics and practitioners.  More than one, after adorning themselves or handling their purchase, stated "this is a woman of power!"  Many of our customers, after receiving items from this estate have reported dream contacts and other unexplained phenomenon.

Unusual, authentic Voodoo Priestess Estate piece and at a bargain price! 

This is truly a rare opportunity to own anything with attributes to this estate.  The majority of this estate is now gone.  Most of what we had left, and it was considerable, has been split up and sold to a couple of private, foreign collector practitioners and will never be available to the public again.  We made the decision to do this as we have had some pretty strange visits from even stranger individuals and there have been enough unexplained phenomenon going on in the warehouse where her things were kept that many of our employees refused to go in there. 

The pieces offered and sold here are some of the few remaining pieces that will ever be offered to the public. 

Nice addition to any collection, altar or decor that displays really well. 

Really doesn't get any better than this.

There are 10 photographs, so please give them time to load, and enjoy the listing.

Buyer to pay $12.85 for USPS Insured Ground Advantage Shipping with Tracking, handling and lagniappe.

Rest assured your order will be carefully packed to withstand the onslaught of the most deranged of Postal Workers.

 

International Buyers, drop us an email and we will try to accommodate you.

 Payment is due at listing end.

Check our other listings and sign up for our newsletter as new items are usually listed daily.

©Text and Photos Copyright 2001-2024 bushidobuce, all rights reserved.

Props are not part of this deal.  Gold Buddha Only, but you knew that already.

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