Leon Deschamps found the object with a friend while metal detecting. Photo / Facebook
Leon Deschamps found the object with a friend while metal detecting. Photo / Facebook
A tiny bronze Buddha statue has been confirmed to be an ancient relic of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, and could be the smoking gun that proves Chinese sailors touched down in Australia centuries before Europeans did.
The small, bronze rendering of Buddha in child form was discovered by filmmakers and adventurers Leon Deschamps and Shayne Thomson in 2018 — and it’s now been valued at up to $180,000.
The pair said they came across the Buddha while sweeping a metal detector over the dunes of a West Australian beach, prompting a years-long fight to prove its authenticity.
Deschamps and Thompson had previously been accused of an elaborate hoax to drum up publicity for their filmmaking enterprise, but now the tiny Buddha has been proved real.
Deschamps — who believes the bronze statue may have come to Australia in the 1420s as part of one of the richest Chinese treasure voyages — recently took his find to the UK to be examined on cult TV program Antiques Roadshow.
Antiques Roadshow expert Lee Young, who specialises in Asian art, said the object was definitely authentic.
It has been valued at $180,000. Photo / Facebook.
“Let’s clear it up straight away, yes it is Ming,” Young told the program.
“And yes, it is the infant Buddha. He was brought out in ceremonies to celebrate Buddha’s birthday, which is why it’s portrayed as the infant Buddha. They poured purified water or tea over the shoulders of the Buddha, which is why they’re always made in bronze, so they don’t get damaged.”
The authentication means the statue is the oldest known Chinese artefact in Australian history — but Young was hesitant to label it as evidence that Chinese voyagers visited the continent more than 600 years ago.
He valued the object at between £3,000 and £5,000 (AU$5300 to $8900) at an auction pre-sale, according to recent purchases of similar relics.
But, with the Buddha’s backstory, Mr Young said it could be worth up to £100,000 (AU$180,000).
“There is only one of these with that story … It’s history-making,” he said.
Deschamps and Thomson unearthed the statue while on a metal detecting exhibition for a documentary about the early 1800s French exploration of Australia.
They were looking for objects left behind during a Napoleonic-era voyage, and found many an empty beer can before stumbling upon the stunning piece.
Their version of events, if correct, would mean Chinese sailors visited Australia almost 200 years before the Dutch ever set sail.
Details on the Buddha statue. Photo/ Facebook.
Chinese “treasure fleets”, funded by wealthy and elite families, explored the world for minerals.
Claims they reached Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, built small villages and associated with Aboriginal people have been discussed and mostly dismissed.
Proponents of the theory have long looked for a “smoking gun” to prove it — but it seems the small Buddha is not yet their answer.
Young said he was “honoured” just to stand close to the statue.
Occasionally, an object comes our way that has an amazing story that makes it almost a world treasure, and the story about this little Buddha and the journey that it’s made to get here today, to me, makes this an exceptional object,” he said.
