The Buddha seated on a lotus, carved from a single Bolivian ametrine crystal so its natural color zones fall exactly where they are needed. One of one.
The object
"Gautama Buddha on Lotus" is hand-carved from one solid ametrine crystal from Bolivia. The carver matched the figure to the stone's own zoning — the clear white quartz becomes the lotus flower, the amethyst with its touches of citrine becomes the Buddha's face — so the color belongs to the crystal, not the carver. The lotus leaves are carved in jade with a matte finish; all metalwork is hand-hammered bronze with gold vermeil.
The stone
Ametrine is the rare natural bi-color of quartz: amethyst purple and citrine gold meeting within a single crystal, where adjacent zones of differing iron oxidation produce the two hues at once. It registers 7 on the Mohs scale, and Bolivia's Anahí mine is essentially the world's only natural source. To read a rough crystal in advance and place the Buddha's face in the purple-gold and the lotus in the white — before a single cut — is the whole achievement of the piece.
The subject
The lotus rises unstained from muddy water, which has made it the enduring emblem of enlightenment and purity across Buddhist art; the seated Gautama is the image of stillness and awakening. Carved in a stone that is itself two things reconciled in one body, the subject and the material rhyme.
The artist
Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio is a Peruvian-born lapidary sculptor and creative director of L'Aquart, heir to a family atelier whose tradition reaches back to 1968. An engineer by training, he gave the bench what engineering could not match; his carved works are held in museum collections worldwide, and since 2010 he has collaborated with S.T. Dupont on Haute Création pieces. His practice insists on harmony between lapidary carving, metalwork and structural planning — and on refusing difficulty as a reason not to proceed.
Offered by
Surround Art & Diamonds — North American representative of L'Aquart — presents this work as a singular object at the intersection of lapidary art, fine craft and collecting, with nearly a decade placing Quispe Aparicio's sculptures in private collections across the United States and Europe.
Material: Single ametrine crystal (Bolivia); jade leaves (matte finish); hand-hammered bronze with gold vermeil
Dimensions: 22 × 14 × 30 cm (8.7 × 5.5 × 11.8 in)
Year: 2020
Artwork origin: Peru
Edition: Unique, one of one
Status: In hand, available
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