Twin Buns, Holding a Lotus

Viewing notes

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

This golden standing figure wears the twin buns of a child attendant and stands on a double lotus pedestal. The hair is black, dressed into two round buns; the face is a slightly deeper, dusky gold, eyes lowered, the expression docile and quiet. Both hands cup together at the chest a small lotus of red and gold, held like a little cluster of flame. The ribbons are the delight: a long pair rises from the shoulders and loops into two great arcs beside the head before falling at the sides, the gold light flowing along the curves and making the small face seem all the more alive. Robes pour down in layers, the drapery falling past the knees like water and gathering on the pedestal in fine waves. Beneath the lotus is no golden throne but a tall dark rock plinth, its craggy surface hanging in layers like an inverted cliff — gold above, stone below, the light against the heavy. It suits a study, a tea room or the side place of a shrine: never stealing the main seat, yet carrying its own innocent solemnity.