Seated in a Red Crown

Viewing notes

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

This seated figure is one colour from crown to base: a vermilion red. He wears a tall, openwork crown, a small seated Buddha set at its centre. The face is full and round, the eyes lowered in a faint smile, the earlobes long; a necklace rests on the chest. His hands lie folded in his lap, holding a round object, and he sits in full lotus on a double lotus pedestal. The robes fall from both shoulders, chest border and waistband clearly layered, the folds spreading slowly over the crossed legs; the pedestal's two tiers are carved with rows of heart-shaped scrolls. Nothing breaks the red — the modelling comes from the depth of the carving and the play of light, warmth held inside stillness. A figure for the principal place of a shrine, or a solemn red accent in a room — equally suited to devotion and to display.