The Banner-Bearing Guardian

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This copper-toned armoured guardian sits in commanding stillness. His eyes glare wide beneath a jewelled crown, his beard is short and curled, and dense scale armour covers him head to foot, a broad lotus petal worked into the centre of the breastplate. The right hand grips a tall pole that rises well above his head, its cloth banner hanging in wrapped folds at the top; the left rests on the sword hilt at his knee, as if he might rise at any moment. A pale teal sash loops over both shoulders and sweeps behind him in a great arc, lending movement to all that metal. He sits with legs spread wide on a rocky base, two small demon figures at his feet — one kneeling, one flattened beneath his boot. Richly detailed yet never cluttered, it is a piece that holds a shrine's flank or a hall by sheer presence, and richly repays collecting.