Three Figures on a Sea of Cloud

Viewing notes

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

This wood-toned set of three standing figures rises together from a single base of rolling clouds. The central Buddha stands within a round halo, a swastika on his chest, one hand lowered in a gesture of welcome and the other raised before him holding a lotus bloom. The bodhisattva at his left wears a tall jewelled crown and long beaded ornaments, a long-stemmed lotus leaning across her body; the one at his right, a small figure seated in her crown, holds a vase in one hand and a willow sprig in the other. Each of the three stands on its own lotus, while two small kneeling attendants with joined palms flank a little incense burner at the front, and a further small dark-toned seated figure is placed before the cloud base. One warm yellow wood tone binds the group — a rising bank of cloud from afar, three distinct presences up close — made to be enshrined together at the principal position of a shrine or set out as a complete altar arrangement.