The following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans & Kenyon

Insofar as there are few Wat Mahathat Buddhist Temples, please refer to Wikipedia for additional clarification of the text on the brass plaque: “The ruins of Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat (Woravihara), Sukhothai, at Sukhothai Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Dang is not listed in the Askart.com and Artprice.com databases. Mr. Fastov contacted the current owner of the Naris Art Gallery in Pattaya, Thailand, former owner of the painting, before selling it to the Air Chief Marshal, Siddhi Svetsilai, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. Mr. Fastov requested that the owner advise him of the name of the artist who painted the present lot, insofar as he could not read the artist’s signature with certainty and because he was unable to find any variants on the spelling of the artist’s name (including “Deng”, “Ding” “Dong” or “Dung”) in his searches of Askart.com and Artprice.com. He also asked the owner his opinion of the current auction value of the painting. On September 13, 2012, he received an e-mail reply from Naris Pedcharat, one of the owner’s colleagues, which reads as follows:

Dear Sir,

Sorry for late reply. I had alredy ask my boss about these painting and he told that painting would be paint by Mr. Dang who is local artist in Pattaya. The full name of Mr. Dang is Kuekhun Phonjareonsuk now age about 60 years old. My boss told about the price of these painting should be 100,000 baht for now.

Kind regards,

Naris Art Hotel”

Current exchange rates reveal a conversion of 100,000 baht to $3241.74 (as of September 18, 2012, per the CoinMill.com website). The foregoing warrants the conclusion that presale estimates of $3,000-$3,500 are both reasonable and justifiable.