Burl Wood Happy Monk with Prayer Beads

Happy Monk Sculpture hand-crafted from Burl wood, with features accented in sterling silver decorated with 24 gold-leaf. The monk is wearing a prayer beads necklace decorated with 24K gold-leaf which is considered to be a monk representing meditation practice. The Happy Monk holds a sterling silver Yuanbao with 24K Gold leaf. The piece is set on black granite stand.

Yuanbao was a type of gold and silver ingot currency used in imperial China from its founding under the Qin dynasty until the fall of the Qing in the 20th century. The monk carrying it signifies the spread of wealth to its followers.

Rolf von Bueren, an avid burl wood collector for over 40 years, personally travels to Japan to look for rare and beautiful pieces of burl woods – some that he keeps, some that he shares with his collector friends and Lotus Arts de Vivre designs. Burls result in a uniquely patterned wood, which is highly prized for its beauty. It is valued and sought after by artists, furniture makers and sculptors. The "wild grain" in the Burl makes the wood extremely dense and resistant to splitting, which made it valued for bowls, artifacts and sculptures, and is a popular wood in many auction houses across the world.
 
It took 6 master craftsmen with a combined production time of 2 months to complete the Happy Monk. From imagining its unique design, sculpting its shape, carving the wood, to employing a silver smith, great thought and care has gone into creating this timeless art piece.

Size: 16(W) x 19(L) x 16(H) cm. 
Weight: 2.33 kg.