Burmese Stacking Mandalay Style Altar

Gold on gold, climbing in steps toward something higher.

This stacking Mandalay style altar comes from Burma and dates to the late 19th century. It is gilt teak wood with glass inlays. Burmese Buddhists made altars like this to raise Buddha images and offerings in monasteries and homes, and the gilt and glass style is associated with Mandalay, the last royal capital. A paneled upper case rests on three receding tiers, every surface worked with squared rosettes and round glass insets. Pierced, scrolling aprons hang at the base between splayed feet. Just over fifty-nine inches high.

Even empty, it directs the eye upward.