Japanese Butsudan Shrine with Folding Doors and Drawers: Jeweled Buddha

Open the doors and the room behind you goes quiet.

This Butsudan shrine comes from Japan and dates to the 19th century, made of lacquered and gilt wood. A butsudan is a Buddhist household altar, where families honor the Buddha and remember their ancestors with offerings and prayer. Folding doors, latticed and gold on their inner faces, open in layers onto a gilded interior. A small jeweled Buddha stands at the center with a radiating halo, beneath a band of carved flowers. Drawers and cabinet doors in gold frames fill the black lacquer base. Sixty-four and a half inches high.

Daily devotion, kept in a cabinet with its doors open.