Central Buddha with Bowl

Viewing notes

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

This golden seated Buddha is the central figure of a matched set of three. Snail-curl hair is drawn high with a golden roundel at the front, a swastika marks the chest, and the eyes are lowered over a full-lotus seat on a double golden lotus throne. Both hands rest together in the lap, cradling a small, round golden bowl. The robe is gold throughout, edged with red lines and woven over with fine coloured patterning, its sash knotted in red beneath the chest. Behind rises a pointed, leaf-shaped openwork aureole in silver and gold, its vines opening into golden lotuses set with red beads; the throne's tiered petals are inlaid with small red, blue and green stones. Of the three, this pose is the most gathered — hands and bowl sit exactly at the centre of the gaze, quiet and weighty, made for the middle of the set's shrine or the principal seat of a shrine of its own.