Japanese Incensary

Description

Japanese metal incensary, 20th century. The sage Daruma sitting on a rhinoceros. Looking at the flowing lines and expression of both characters, it conveys serenity, balance, and peace and harmony.

Size: cm 15 x 8 x 19h

Weight: Kg 1,380

Daruma is the Japanese pronunciation of Dharma, short for Bodhidharma, the 28th patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma, who lived between 470 and 543 AD, was an Indian kshatriya (prince of the warrior caste); the name by which we know it, made up of the Sanskrit words bodhi (truth) and dharma (law), is the name given to him by his teacher, the wise Panyata. The best-known episode in Bodhidharma’s life (also the protagonist of a famous Zen koan) is his departure from India to China (a journey that at the time took a few years), which took place around the year 525 AD, to teach Buddhism to Emperor Wu. In fact, the Chinese portraits of Bodhidharma highlighting its features typically Indian (beard, dark skin), which earned him the nickname of “the demon with blue eyes”.