This sculpture represents the Buddha in a seated full lotus position. Large sections of his clothing and ushnisha (a protuberance on the top of the head which is one of the key characteristics of the Buddha and which symbolises his enlightenment) are painted in red, black, and gold, and his facial features are picked out with black paint. His eyes are slightly open, and his mouth is curved in a gentle smile. This calm expression conveys the inner peace that he has been able to achieve through focused meditation and asceticism. His earlobes stretch downwards almost as far as his shoulders. The elongated earlobes are a common feature in representations of the Buddha. Within East Asian belief, particularly Buddhism, large ears are seen as a sign of wisdom and compassion. The Buddha is often depicted with elongated ears to symbolise his ability to hear the cries of those who are suffering, and his sympathy and willingness to help ease their pain. It is therefore a comforting image, as it reminds those who see it that there is hope for an end to their sufferings through the search for enlightenment and the compassion of those who have reached it.

His hands are in the Bhumisparsha mudra, with his right hand hanging downwards over his knee and reaching towards the ground, while his left hand lies palm upwards in his lap. The Bhumisparsha or ‘earth witness’ mudra (a ‘mudra’ is a gesture or body position with a symbolic meaning and connection to an event in the life of the Buddha) represents the connection which the Buddha made with the earth when he was close to achieving Nirvana. The demon Mara was trying to frighten him and interrupt his meditation, and as part of this challenged him to produce a witness to agree that he had the right to achieve enlightenment. As the Buddha touched the ground, the earth itself appeared as his witness, allowing him to defeat Mara and prove himself worthy of reaching Nirvana.

The high arched eyebrows and soft smiling expression, as well as the use of marble, are characteristics which suggest that this is a Shan sculpture. The Shan people are an ethnic group that have been living in Myanmar since the 11th century, and are believed to have migrated from Yunnan in China. Today, they are the largest minority group, primarily based in the Shan state in the east of Myanmar, but between the 13th and 16th centuries Shan chiefs ruled much of the country. Their religion is primarily Buddhist, and their culture is closely related to that of Thailand and Laos. Shan Buddha sculptures are characterised by slightly open eyes, with high eyebrows and large foreheads. The marble used for Buddha sculptures in Myanmar often comes from the hill range of Sagyin, a village north of Mandalay. This area is an offshoot of the mountainous Mogok area, known as the “Valley of Rubies” because of the high-quality gemstones that have been found there since ancient times. Rubies are therefore also found in the Sagyin hills among the marble.