Credit: Finn Films
A tiny bronze Buddha statue found in the dunes of a WA beach is set to be auctioned off for around $100,000 after its origins were confirmed on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
Identified as a rare Ming dynasty collectable, the discovery of the statue in 2018 set off fierce debate among historians about how on earth the item had ended up in WA.
Some questioned whether it came aboard a Chinese “treasure fleet” that landed hundreds of years before European colonisation, while others speculated it could be treasure belonging to “Black Bill Dampier”, a buccaneer known to have sailed the WA coast.
Regardless, the men who discovered the statue, Shark Bay historian and photographer Leon Deschamps and his Finn Films co-director and partner Shayne Thomson, told The Sunday Times in 2019 that its real value was in the questions it had created.
“The truth is we may never know the answer to the mystery of how it came to be there. But that’s the cool thing about the Buddha — it makes us start asking questions,” he said.
“The real treasure is not the object itself, it’s trying to find out what the story is.”
The statue which measures less than 25cm and weighs in at 1kg, was found buried about 15cm down by the men who had been using metal detectors.
In an episode that went to air on Sunday, the Antiques Roadshow Asian art expert Lee Young, the managing director of Dore and Rees auctioneers in Somerset, told Deschamps: “Let’s clear this up straight away. Yes, it is Ming. And yes, it is the infant Buddha.
“There is an example of one of the infant Buddhas in the Imperial collection, the palace collection… this would have (belonged to) somebody of some standing,” he said.
SUN READ BABY BUDDHA – Adventurers and film-makers Leon Deschamps (left) and Shane Thomson (right) using metal detectors. Credit: Finn Films
Leon Deschamps and Shane Thomson discovered the statue in an undisclosed location in 2018. Credit: Finn Films/Finn Films
He estimated it could sell at auction for between AUD$18,000-$90,000.
“Even if it made £100,000 (AUD$175,000) I don’t think I’d be that surprised. Because there is only one of these with that story. I mean, I just, I’m actually honoured to have been as close to this as I am… it’s history-making and for you to have made that incredible journey with him, you know to be here today.”
SUN READ BABY BUDDHA – Adventurers and film-makers Leon Deschamps (right) and Shane Thomson (left) using metal detectors. Credit: Finn Films
Leon Deschamps and Shane Thomson have spent many thousands of dollars trying to get to the bottom of the statue’s origins. Credit: Finn Films/Finn Films
Deschamps and Thomson have spent many thousands of dollars trying to get to the bottom of the statue’s origins.
In a statement, the pair said the Buddha was being held offshore in an expensive high security private commercial location.
“We want it to find a home with a culturally appropriate owner who will hopefully publicly display the Buddha in either Australia or China.
“If we had not continued with our self-funded research then this discovery would never have been confirmed as a priceless antiquity and an incredible and proud part of Australia and China’s shared regional history.
After the buddha goes under the hammer, Deschamp and Thomson plan to recoup their costs and then fund initiatives to help protect local cultural heritage sites, both Indigenous and Asian and European.
