Genbu (Black Tortoise)

About this work

This compact bronze renders Genbu, the Black Tortoise guardian of the north, with a serpent coiling around a domed carapace. Rounded volumes and a composed expression temper the mythic gravitas of the ancient iconography, producing a figure that is approachable yet structurally assured. Cast from a carved wood master informed by decades of Buddhist sculpture conservation, the work condenses precise anatomical detail and taut surface modelling into a palm-sized form.