A Pagoda on His Palm

Viewing notes

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

This copper-toned seated figure holds a pagoda, and holds it perfectly still. Shaven-headed with long earlobes, his face is grave, the brows slightly gathered, the head turned a fraction to one side as if watching something beyond the tower's tip. His robe hangs open over chest and softly rounded belly; the right arm is raised, palm up, bearing a tall multi-tiered pagoda whose eaves step out layer upon layer, crisp enough to count one by one. The left hand presses the raised knee, and one bare foot rests on the front edge of the rocky seat, toes distinct. The robe falls from his left shoulder in deep, slow folds between the legs. Half the power of the piece is in the expression, half in the steadiness of that tower; the copper is heavy and warm. It suits enshrining in a shrine, and, in a collection, it is a work whose detail stands up to close looking.