Japanese Antique Pair Gilt Lotus Flower Bouquets

From our recent Japanese acquisitions, a rare find Antique Original Japanese temple "blossoming lotus" flower bud stem including its original red lacquer display base. This finely hand carved wood and lacquered gold flower stem was made for a Buddhist 19th century temple altar. Its flower blossoms and leaves symbolize the stages of the path toward enlightenment. The individual parts of each lotus is carved separately then joined in an arrangement and inserted in altar vessels. Also called "Jyôka" , it is placed on or next to an altar in a Buddhist temple. Made with meticulous techniques. In Buddhism, the lotus is an important symbol of divine enlightenment because it blooms into beautiful flowers while growing in mud. Tsunehana means "a flower that continues to bloom forever" and "a flower that does not wither." For this reason, the flowers represented are in different stages of their life, unfolded lotus leaves, buds and full flowers, thus symbolizing the journey towards Buddhist enlightenment. This lovely Japanese antique gilt Lotus flower is an early survivor, circa 1840, and a hard to find treasure that was originally placed on or around a temple altar. This ensemble consists of a single stem, the top most flower, and the bottom leaf- all mounted in the original square red lacquer display base. A gold gilt 3.5 inch long tortoise "minogame" is affixed to the base as seen in the photo. Its attractive original old patina coupled with much of the original gilding remaining present is just the way we like to find them. Dimensions: With original red lacquer display stand Height, 17 inches height and 9 inches in width. The lotus flower stem alone measures 16 inches in height. Provenance: acquired from a Kyoto Japanse monk and collector History of the Japanese turtle "minogame" One of the most famous is the mythological giant turtle...

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