Kannon Ishigami

"ishi" for stone and "kami" (gami) for God

Those pieces were very popular among the bunjin people (literati) in 18th & 19th C. mainly in the Kansai area.

Very few is known about those pieces, except Patricia Graham in her book Sencha who wrote a little bit about it... The face of this figure is made in stone which is lacquered ...

The figure itself is made in boxwood root. This figure looks like Kannon , the japanese Avalokiteshvara.