Shakyamuni Buddha, Earth-Touching

Cast in Oku Bahal, the statue-makers' quarter of Patan, where the same families have worked metal since the Malla kings. The workshop that makes this piece runs four artisans and takes about three weeks over a nine-inch casting — most of that time is spent on the face, which is chased with punches barely wider than a needle.

Cast by the lost-wax method the Newar workshops of Patan have used for roughly a thousand years. The artisan models the figure in wax, encases it in a clay and rice-husk mould, fires the mould so the wax runs out, and pours molten metal into the void that is left. The mould is broken to release the casting, so no two pieces from it can ever be identical. Chasing, filing and detailing the face are then done entirely by hand — the slowest part of the work, and the part that decides whether a statue is any good.

Dust weekly with a dry, soft cloth; a natural-bristle brush reaches into the crown, the jewellery and the petals of the lotus base. Never use water, metal polish or any commercial cleaner — the dark tone is a deliberate chemical patina and polishing strips it permanently. Keep out of damp rooms and direct sun. Lift by the base, never by an arm or an attribute.