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The Australian Infant Buddha is the oldest Chinese archaeological artefact ever unearthed in Australian history.

The Infant Buddha bronze statue stands at 15cm high and weighs 1.1kg. It is made of solid cast bronze using the “Lost Wax” method and covered in gold applied with a pig bristle brush mixed with liquid mercury.

It was discovered on the 10th of November in 2018 by Shayne Thomson and Leon Deschamps, both filmmakers, at 6.17pm. Unearthed whilst using metal detectors during research for a planned documentary on a Napoleonic voyage to Shark Bay Western Australia.

The incredible discovery led to global media speculation with many linking it to the Ming Treasure Fleets of Zheng He.

Wide spread media speculation into the objects authenticity led to the film makers spending four years and over $100,000 AUD in funds researching the provenance of the Buddha.

The Infant Buddha was confirmed as an authentic artefact by Fellow of the University of Western Australia and ex-Director of the WA Museum, corrosion specialist Dr Ian McLeod in 2019.

McLeod’s forensic analysis of the Infant Buddha confirmed through the microscopic analyses of the corrosion present in the surface patina created whilst buried, that the Infant Buddha had been subsurface in the location of its discovery for at least 100 years.

The area it was found in however is a geomorphologically turbulent coastal dune system which is subject to radical topographic changes during cyclonic tidal events.

This, combined with the regions geographic isolation led to the possibility the Infant Buddha may have been covered and uncovered several times over several centuries in the location of its discovery.

During Dr McLeod's analysis it was noted the Infant Buddha had been cast without the index fingers on both hands.

Further examination found no traces of any residual metals within the cavities suggesting that the fingers were non metallic and likely made from semi precious materials favoured by the Chinese elite in the period, most likely jade, ivory or ruby. This currently is the only example of a Ming Dynasty Infant Buddha Bronze cast in this fashion. The Infant Buddha is a high status art object made during the Ming Dynasty 1368-1644.

Asian Art expert and presenter Lee Young during BBC televisions flagship program “Antiques Roadshow” confirmed this in 2023 when Deschamps travelled to the UK on invitation from the show. During the broadcast the Infant Buddha was authenticated as a legitimate Ming Dynasty Bronze and declared a “World Treasure” whose value was “priceless”. It was also noted by the presenter that a similar statue was currently in the Chinese Imperial Emperors Collection.

Current investigations into the origins of the Buddha in its remote location currently link its potential provenance to the English Buccaneer Black Bill, or William Dampier, who visited and named the region in 1699. Chinese Pearlers active in the region in the 1800’s or aboard one of the Ming Dynasty Treasure Fleet ships in 1421.

Investigations into its history continue with an archaeological dig at the discovery site planned for 2024 to search for the missing fingers.