Pagoda and Canopy

Viewing notes

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

This wood-toned standing guardian holds a canopy-topped staff. Crowned, with curling hair and beard and a wrathful glare, he stands tall and straight. His right hand lifts a small tiered pagoda at his chest, close against his shoulder; his left hangs gripping a long pole topped with a furled canopy, beads and tassels trailing from its rim. The armour is carved with extreme fineness: layered scales on the shoulder guards, a round motif on the chest, ring pendants at the belt, and the skirt plates overlapping one over another. His war boots tread a base of rolling cloud-heads, and his sash coils in a curve beside his leg. The honeyed wood tone flows smoothly, and the majesty carries a sense of order. Such a figure suits a guardian's side position in a shrine, or an entrance hall or exhibition doorway, where the first thing seen is a measure of solemnity.