Happy Monk with Gourd and Holder

Happy Monk Sculpture hand-crafted from Burl wood, with features accented in sterling silver decorated with gold-leaf and red stone on the forehead. The monk is carrying Sceptre which made from Liana wood decorated with sterling silver and Turquoise. He is wearing a prayer beads necklace made from Prayer beads which is considered to be a monk representing meditation practice and holding a gourd made from sterling silver with gold-leaf. The piece is set on black granite stand.  
 
The monk carries a small holder, decorated with gold-leaf lining to serve as a “Wishing Well” for coins, for the prosperity of the owner. 
 
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. 
 
Gourds have a much deeper meaning in Chinese culture. Drying and painting them for Chinese people is an art and fengshui. Gourds in China were used as charms for scaring away malefic spirits and used as magic potions to avoid diseases - overall signifying protection, blessing and luck.
 
Ruyi (sceptre) is a curved decorative object that serves as a ceremonial sceptre in Chinese Buddhism or a talisman symbolizing power and good fortune in Chinese folklore. A traditional ruyi has a long S-shaped handle and a head fashioned like a fist, cloud, or lingzhi mushroom.
 
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: 46(W) x 63(L) x 62(H) cm.  
Weight: 25.60 kg.