Japanese Zushi Shrine with JUNTEI KANNON Seated on Lotus with Attendant

Close the black doors and nothing shows. Open them and the room fills with gold.

This Zushi shrine with Juntei Kannon seated on a lotus with an attendant comes from Japan and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Zushi are small portable cabinets for Buddhist images, and Juntei Kannon is a form of the bodhisattva of compassion venerated in esoteric Japanese Buddhism. Inside, the gilded figure sits on a red lotus before a round halo, above a smaller attendant on a rocky base. Gold walls and doors are painted with lotus ponds, clouds and flying celestial figures. The outside is plain black lacquer. It stands 10.75 inches high.

Discretion on the outside, splendor on the inside, as it should be.