Highly decorative 19thc Vietnamese carved wooden polychrome Buddha

A highly decorative 19th century Vietnamese carved wooden and polychrome painted Buddha with traces of original gilding - ADDITIONAL IMAGES CAN BE VIEWED BELOW:

This carved wood polychrome Buddha is seated with his right hand raised and left hand resting with a reverse swastika carved on his chest.

This Buddha has a raised right hand with palm facing outwards with the left hand down representing peace and fearlessness and symbolizes a sense of strong inner security, protection and peace.

The swastika has been an important symbol for Hindus and Buddhists in some Asian countries for thousands of years and can be depicted in both the negative and positive position. The word 'swastika' is a Sanskrit (ancient Indian language in which Hindu scriptures and Indian poems are written) word meaning: 'well being', 'good existence' , 'good luck'. 

In Buddhism the swastika is the symbol of good fortune, abundance and eternity and is said to promote goodwill, compassion and generosity to all living beings and is often carved on the heart or feet of a Buddha.

This Buddha is in good, original condition, is of stable construction and can go straight into a home - it does have a shrinkage split and old repairs to the base as can be seen in the photographs.