Lotus Cabinet
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The Lotus Cabinet is a small cabinet made of poplar wood, finished with shellac and wax. The door panel is carved with images of lotus flowers. From the upper left corner clockwise to the lower left corner are carvings showing a lotus flower gradually opening. The central medallion shows a fully opened lotus flower. The cabinet is 17" (43 cm) high, 11" (28 cm) wide, and 4" (10 cm) deep.
The lotus flower grows from the mud at the bottom of a pond and sends up a stem that raises the flower out of the water. It has thus come to symbolize the purity of spirit that can emerge from the roughness and impurity of life, and therefore symbolizes the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The gradual opening of the flower depicted in the carvings on the door panel of the cabinet symbolizes the process of reaching the wisdom of enlightenment.