Gilt Stupa with Deities

A tiny seated Buddha waits in a window, under a roof that curls up at the corners.

This gilt stupa with deities dates to the early 20th century and is made of wood. Stupas are among the oldest Buddhist monuments, generally understood as reliquaries and as symbols of the enlightened mind, and small versions are common on shrines. This one is a bell-shaped body under a ringed, tapering spire and pointed finial, all covered in worn gold. Niches on the sides frame small seated figures against dark red grounds, beneath arched gables edged with tiny raised dots. Red-lacquered wing panels flank each niche. The gilding has rubbed through in places to the wood beneath.

Devotion, rendered at tabletop scale.