Gautam Buddha

Worth saying at the start: most people buying a Buddha statue in India are not Buddhist, and that is fine. These are bought for the calm of the form, for a living room, a hallway, a garden or a studio, and this collection is decor first. Ours run large, from 12 to 20 inches, in wood, black and gold, white and gold, antique and plated finishes, plus wall art and head studies.

The formats

Full figures, seated or standing, at 12 to 20 inches. These are floor or console pieces, not shelf pieces. Check the depth as well as the height, because a seated Buddha with crossed legs is deep.

Wall art, including a 14 inch 3D panel. It catches light from one angle, so it wants a wall the lamp or window reaches. See wall decor.

Head studies, at 15 to 18 inches. Honest note: the head alone is a modern decorative convention rather than a devotional form. In Buddhist practice the complete figure is what is venerated, and many antique heads in circulation were originally fragments. Ours are made as sculpture, and we sell them as sculpture.

Reclining Buddha. Also worth knowing before you gift one: the reclining posture depicts the parinirvana, the Buddha's passing. It is a serene and entirely legitimate form, widely made, but some recipients read it as a death image. If you are unsure about the recipient, a meditating figure is the safer gift.

The mudras actually mean something

The hand position is not styling, and knowing it makes the piece better to live with.

Dhyana mudra, both hands in the lap, palms up, is meditation. The most common form here and the easiest to place anywhere.

Bhumisparsha, right hand reaching down to touch the earth, is the moment of enlightenment, the Buddha calling the earth to witness.

Abhaya mudra, right palm raised outward, is fearlessness and reassurance, the same gesture that appears across Indian iconography.

The begging bowl figure is the alms round, a monastic rather than a meditative image.

Not the Laughing Buddha

A distinction the market blurs constantly. The Laughing Buddha is properly Budai, a Chinese folkloric monk figure belonging to feng shui practice, and he is not the historical Buddha. Different figure, different tradition, different reason for owning one. Ours are in vastu decor. Everything on this page is Siddhartha Gautama.

Placement

There is no scriptural rule we can point to for where a Buddha statue goes in a house, and we are not going to invent one. What is genuinely conventional across Buddhist practice is a matter of respect rather than direction: the figure is kept off the floor, kept clean, and not placed in a bathroom or facing directly into one. Beyond that, put it where you will actually see it.

Practically, these are large pieces. A 20 inch statue needs a surface that can carry it and clear space around the silhouette. Measure the depth of a seated figure, which is the dimension people forget.

Materials and care

Wood wants a dry cloth and stable humidity, away from a radiator or direct sun. Black, white and gold finishes are painted or plated surfaces: soft dry cloth only, never an abrasive or an acidic cleaner. Antique finishes carry a patina applied deliberately, so a cleaning paste strips the finish rather than restoring it. Marble dust pieces hold the finest detail and want to stay dry and out of sustained sun; see the white and gold premium range.

None of these is an abhishek piece. If you want a metal figure that can be washed and cleaned indefinitely, that is brass.

As a gift

Buddha is one of the easiest large gifts to give, because the form reads as calm rather than as a claim on the recipient's faith. It suits a housewarming, a new office, a studio or a garden. Choose a meditating figure unless you know the recipient well enough to judge a reclining one.

See griha pravesh and housewarming gifts and corporate gifts, or send the details on the bulk order enquiry page. For the wider decorative range, home decor and showpieces for the living room; for the deity ranges, god idols and figurines.

Before you order

• These run large. A 20 inch figure is furniture, not a shelf object.
• Measure the depth of a seated figure, not just the height.
• Check the mudra. It changes what the piece is saying.
• Reclining depicts the parinirvana. Think about that before gifting one.
• Painted, plated and antique finishes take a dry cloth only.