The Raised Seal

Viewing notes

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

This seated Buddha in warm wood tones raises his right hand in a seal before his chest, a pointed-arch aureole standing behind him. In full lotus on his lotus throne — curled hair, lowered eyes, a swastika at his chest — he lifts his fingers into the seal while his left hand rests level in his lap, a posture that seems mid-teaching; among still, contemplation-only figures, this one carries a note of discourse. The lotus petals are plump, cloth folds spill over the seat, and below, a square pedestal stacks tier upon tier of borders, vine scrolls and petal bands down to beast feet. The aureole spreads outward from its round head-halo in layers of cloud and flame patterning, small seated Buddhas set into the design, one more in the niche at the top, the lines gathering into the pointed crown. Mellow in tone and softly lustrous, he suits veneration in a shrine, or any space that wants a measure more solemnity — wherever he is placed, the air changes.