Obsidian Laughing Buddha Necklace

The laughing Buddha, carved in black obsidian.

He is Budai, the wandering monk of Chinese folk tradition, taken as a form of Maitreya, the Buddha still to come. The open mouth and the bare belly are the whole point. He is kept for good humour and plenty, for taking what arrives lightly, and people have rubbed that belly for luck for as long as there have been figures of him to rub.

Obsidian is volcanic glass, the stone long kept for grounding and protection, so the lightest figure in the tradition is cut here from the darkest stone. The belly is polished to a mirror while the face keeps its creases, and the flat back sits flush against the chest on a black bead chain. Often chosen for a father or an older relative, or worn under a shirt through a hard stretch of work.