The Orb on the Shrine Throne

Viewing notes

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

This polychrome seated Buddha sits enthroned on a many-tiered shrine stand. He is seated in full lotus on a dark, densely patterned lotus pedestal, his deep-blue curls set with a red jewel at the crown, his eyes lowered in meditation. The right hand cradles a clear, transparent sphere before his belly; the left rests palm-down on his knee. His robe of red and gold brocade falls open at the chest, covered in fine patterning. Behind him rises a tall, pointed aureole whose flame-patterned edge opens in layers around inner scrollwork and blossom. The stand below steps inward tier by tier, its front centred with a golden dharma wheel among lotus scrolls, bead tassels hanging at the corners, and a lowest band of neat golden flower squares. Weighty and complete in itself, it suits enshrinement at the principal position of a shrine, a small altar world of its own.