Leaf Cloak, White Elephant

Viewing notes

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

This polychrome figure shows a bodhisattva riding a white elephant. Her hair is drawn up in a high knot and her eyes are lowered; over a red robe she wears a long cloak patterned with overlapping leaves, its colour shifting from blue-green at the shoulders to bright yellow at the hem, a blue sash knotted at her waist with long ends falling free. She sits composed on the elephant's back, one foot lightly pendant, while the elephant — a golden ornament on its brow, tusks gently curled — steps out from curling blue waves, clouds rolling around them both. Behind rises a gnarled tree spreading a full canopy of green leaves like an open umbrella. Fresh, vivid and auspicious, the piece suits a principal display position, a shrine, or a collection that wants a breath of living green.