Blue-Haired Lotus Throne

Viewing notes

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

This polychrome Buddha sits on a lotus throne, its deep blue hair the first thing the eye catches. A red jewel crowns the snail-curled topknot; the eyes are lowered, the legs folded in full lotus on a vast multi-tiered lotus pedestal. The right hand rises at the chest in a seal, while the left cradles a small red object in the lap. The robe is teal-green, worked all over with round floral medallions in red, gold and blue, an orange-yellow sash crossing the chest — dense patterning that never turns heavy. Behind rises a tall pointed-arch aureole in orange-gold, its rim carved with rolling clouds around a red-gold head halo; six small teal seated Buddhas are set into the aureole ring, and a tiny shrine crowns its apex, the small figures ringing the main image. Full, layered lotus petals carry the seat above an octagonal base of orange-red and stone green. Made for the principal place of a shrine: ordered and solemn from afar, finely worked in every detail up close.