Zen Meditating Shami Monk Statue

Look at the feet.

Both soles are turned up, each one resting on the opposite thigh. That is full lotus, and it is the hardest way there is to sit. Small monk figures almost always cheat it, crossing the legs loosely because nobody expects a statue to be checked. This one is modelled properly, which tells you where the sculptor was spending his attention.

He is a shami, a novice. Not the Buddha, not an elder, but a child who has taken the first vows and is getting on with it. That is why these end up on tea tables and desks rather than altars. A Buddha is something you revere. A novice is something you recognise.

The hands are in the meditation gesture, right resting over left. The small raised dot on the forehead is the urna, and the long ears are borrowed from the way the Buddha is shown.

Two tones of unglazed clay, grey for the robe and warm terracotta for the skin, so the colour is the material rather than a coat of paint on top of it. The surface stays matte and faintly sandy under the thumb.

For a desk, a tea table, or a shelf you pass every day. He is small, and he is not asking anything of you.

Where to place a monk statue

A tea table or a study, at eye level if you can manage it. Feng shui puts calming figures in the quiet corner of a room rather than facing the door. Keep him out of direct sun, which fades unglazed clay over time.