Choosing a size

Every listing gives a height, and it is the measurement people find hardest to turn into a room. Some rough anchors.

Under six inches

A shrine figure, or a travelling one. At this size the face is about the width of a fingernail, which is why small pieces are a fair test of a workshop: there is nowhere to hide a badly cut eye.

They work in a group. Three small figures on a shelf read as a shrine; one small figure on a large surface reads as an ornament somebody left there.

Six to twelve inches

The most common range, and the one to default to for a home shrine. Twelve inches at eye level is roughly the size at which the whole figure resolves without you leaning in.

If this is a first piece and it has no fixed place to go yet, this is the safe band. Large enough to be the object in a room, small enough to be moved.

Twelve to twenty inches

A piece that sets a room rather than sits in it, and it needs a surface it does not crowd. As a rule of thumb, leave half the figure's height clear on either side and about the same above.

Weight starts to matter here. A sixteen-inch cast figure is solid metal, and the shelf it stands on becomes a real decision.

Above twenty inches

Usually a commission, usually a temple or a dedicated space, and usually made to order. The lead time on the listing is not a formality.

The one thing to measure first

The clear height above the surface, not the depth of the surface. An alcove that takes the base and not the crown is the mistake that comes up most.