Folded Hands in Meditation

Viewing notes

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

This polychrome seated Buddha rests with folded hands on a many-tiered shrine stand. In full lotus on a broad, pattern-covered lotus pedestal, his hands are stacked one over the other before his belly; his curls are deep blue with a red jewel at the crown, his eyes gently closed, his bearing turned calmly inward. His brocade robe of dark red and gold thread lies open at the chest, its folds piling in layers across the knees. Behind him the pointed aureole rises high, its rim licking outward in flame tongues, its interior filled layer upon layer with scrollwork, blossom and small figures. The stand steps inward below, a golden dharma wheel centred on its front among lotus scrolls, bead tassels at the corners, a band of neat golden flower squares beneath. Steady and unshowy, it suits a shrine; sit long before it, and the room seems to settle.