Dancing in Flame and Ribbon

Viewing notes

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

This silver-grey standing figure is a many-armed wrathful guardian caught mid-dance. His hair streams upward like flame, his eyes glare beneath a bearded, furrowed face, and arm upon arm opens at his sides holding halberd, wheel, bell and more, while small dragons coil among his arms, waist and legs, turning with the body. One foot stands upon an upright dharma wheel, the other leg lifted high; broad ribbons billow and fly at his sides, the whole figure whirling as if in a dance, its momentum almost palpable. Behind him a vast aureole of flame rises tier upon tier, and at the top centre of its ring a tiny seated Buddha rests upon a lotus — stillness set against the wrath below. Beneath his feet, clouds and flames roll over the body of the base, which ends in a hexagonal carved plinth. One silver-grey tone throughout, no colour at all: the piece wins purely by the movement and density of its carving. It belongs at a guardian's place in a hall, or as the most eye-catching scene in any room.