Jade figurine carved in the round: a seated Buddha in meditation, a small bowl held in both hands, bead-like curls and scrollwork at the collar and sleeves.
A vivid green polished to a shine, to set on a desk, a shelf or a nightstand. A bare stone in a single block: it will be weighed whole, and the figure will be published here.
A jade figurine carved in the round: a seated Buddha in meditation, eyes lowered, a small bowl held in both hands. Bead-like curls, a robe draped diagonally across the shoulder, scrollwork at the collar and sleeves, and a vivid green polished to a shine.
In four lines
A seated Buddha in meditation, a bowl held in both hands.
Carved in the round, scrollwork at the collar and sleeves.
A vivid green, polished to a shine.
A bare stone in a single block: it will be weighed whole.
A figure of calm, to keep close by
This jade figurine depicts a seated Buddha, legs crossed beneath the robe, back straight, face peaceful and eyelids lowered. The hands rest one on the other in the lap and hold a small, rounded bowl. Everything in the piece speaks of stillness, and that is what makes it so pleasant to look at.
It belongs on a desk, a shelf, a nightstand or in a reading corner. It is an object you set down and keep, with no purpose other than being there, and it changes the feel of a room.
The detail of a carving in the round
The figurine can be seen from every side. The hair is made of small, tight bead-like curls that rise to the protuberance at the top of the head; the earlobes hang low; a fold of the robe crosses the chest diagonally, edged with a row of beads. Raised scrollwork runs along the collar and the sleeves.
The polish is bright on every surface, right into the folds of the robe, and light glides over the curves of the face, the hands and the knees.
This is not the laughing Buddha
The figure most often sold as a “Buddha”, bare-bellied and laughing, is Budai, a 10th-century Chinese monk. This one is his opposite: slender, composed, in meditation, with the signs Buddhist art gives the Buddha himself, the protuberance of the skull, the curls and the long earlobes. Who the figure really is, and the laughing Buddha pendant if Budai is what you are looking for.
A vivid, luminous green
The green is clear and saturated, luminous from one end of the piece to the other; up close, you can only make out a few lighter shades beneath the surface. It is a color you notice from across the room, on a shelf as on a desk.
Under a lamp, the polished reliefs light up and the hollows darken slightly: that interplay gives shape to the face and the folds of the robe. Telling real jade apart, with no equipment.
Nephrite, a stone that carves finely
Nephrite is the tougher of the two stones called jade: its interwoven fibers can be hollowed and chased without shattering, which is what makes such fine curls and scrolls possible. A figurine does not mind being handled; it fears a fall onto a hard floor, which can chip a relief. Jadeite or nephrite, what sets them apart, and hardness and toughness.
A gift, and caring for it
With no size or taste to guess, a figurine makes an easy gift: for a housewarming, a birthday, or someone who loves objects from Asia. More ideas for giving jade.
A soft, dry cloth is enough for dust, and a very soft brush for the hollows of the curls and scrolls; from time to time, a little lukewarm soapy water, then careful drying. Never ultrasonic cleaners, steam or solvents.Care in detail.
Additional information
Stone
Néphrite
Color
Clear green
Stone shape
Carving in the round
Motif
Seated Buddha
Mounting
None
Metal
None
Setting
No setting
Worn by
Unisex
Paired stones
None, jade only
Mineral family
Calcic amphibole
Hardness (Mohs)
6 to 6.5
Reference density
2.90 to 3.03 g/cm³
Toughness
Exceptional, interlocking crystals
Treatment
Not determined
Origin
Outside Burma, country of extraction not confirmed
What tradition attributes to the seated Buddha
What follows shifts register, and I say so rather than blending it into the rest of the page. None of it is proven. These are customs and images, old and documented, that I report because they are part of the history of this motif. No object in this shop is sold as a remedy or a good luck charm, and I attribute no effect to this one.
A stone of moral virtueIn Confucian thought, jade is associated with qualities of character rather than effects on the body: integrity, constancy, restraint. It is the best documented meaning of all.
The posture of AwakeningCrossed legs, a straight back and hands joined in the lap are the posture of meditation. It is in this position that tradition places the Buddha’s Awakening, at the foot of the Bodhi tree.
The monk’s bowlThe bowl held in the hands recalls the alms bowl, one of the very few possessions monastic rule allows a monk. Other figures of the Buddhist pantheon hold a similar bowl: without an inscription, I will not say which one is shown here.
The marks of the BuddhaThe protuberance at the top of the head, the tight curls and the elongated earlobes are among the marks Buddhist art gives the Buddha. The long earlobes are said to recall the heavy jewelry of the prince he was before he gave everything up.
Shipped within 48 hours of your order being confirmed, for delivery within 14 days from the day it ships. I keep no buffer stock, and I will not promise a date I cannot meet.
Shipping Costs
€6.99 no matter the destination, and free on orders of €47 or more to France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. The exact amount shows in your cart before you pay.
The Packaging, and Why It Matters
Every piece leaves in its own pouch, kept apart from the others. This is not about presentation: jade’s hardness is ordinary, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite, and the quartz in everyday dust rates 7. Two pieces of jewelry that travel together arrive scratched.
Fourteen Days to Change Your Mind
No reason needed. One email opens a return, and there is no form to fill out. Return shipping is at your expense, unless the piece does not match its listing or arrives damaged.
Lukewarm water, mild soap, a soft cloth. A very soft brush for the hollows of a carving. That is all, and it is enough.
What You Must Never Do, and Why
No ultrasonic cleaner, no steam, no solvent, no heat source. The reason is not caution for its own sake: the treatment status of my pieces is undetermined. My supplier cannot tell me, and the weighing establishes the mineral without saying anything about a possible resin impregnation. Resin withstands neither heat nor solvents, so every piece is handled as though it might contain some. The treatment information page.
The Scratch, and Where It Comes From
Jade is tough, meaning very hard to break: its structure of interlocking crystals resists cracking, and that is what made it possible to turn it into axes in the Neolithic. Its hardness, on the other hand, is ordinary, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite. The quartz in everyday dust rates 7, and that is what dulls a jade, not impacts. The difference between the two.
Day to Day
Put the piece on after perfume and lotion, never before. Take it off for housework, gardening, and sports, where the hard knocks happen. Store each piece on its own, in its pouch. On a strand of beads, the thread wears out before the stone does: it gets restrung, and there is nothing abnormal about that.
My name is Jade. I am French, from Morbihan in Brittany, and I live in Tallinn. I choose the pieces and have them set: I mine nothing, I carve nothing, and I do not do the metalwork myself. What I bring is the sorting, and with this material the sorting decides everything.
I am not a gemologist, a lapidary, or a therapist, and I do not claim to be.
I Weigh, I Do Not Certify
Before putting a reference online, I order one example of it for myself. When it reaches me unset, I weigh it in air, then suspended from a thread in a glass of water: the ratio of the two masses gives the density, and that figure separates jadeite, nephrite, serpentine, and dyed quartzite without ambiguity.
One example per reference, and not every piece. I never handle the piece that ships to you, and I would rather say so plainly than let anyone believe otherwise. The method, with its three limitations.
What I Cannot Know
The treatment status of my pieces. My supplier cannot tell me, and neither can the scale: it establishes the mineral, not the resin impregnation. Only laboratory infrared spectroscopy would settle the question, and I do not have that testing done. So you will never read “jadeite A”, “type A” or “untreated” on this site. The information page.
Where My Jade Comes From
No Burmese jadeite, and the first reason is legal. Not the one you read everywhere: the JADE Act of 2008 did ban these stones in the United States, but that ban was lifted on October 7, 2016. What applies today dates from April 8, 2021: the US Treasury sanctioned Myanma Gems Enterprise, the state-owned company that controls the Burmese gem trade. So there is no blanket ban, but an American is not allowed to do business with that entity, and a stone never tells you where it has been. I run one supply chain for ten markets, and it has to stand up to the strictest one. When an origin is not confirmed to me in writing, the listing does not state it. My origin policy.
