This all-white mug is of Daruma, a Buddhist monk and founder of Zen Buddhism. His brows are furrowed and he has an angry expression. Little contemporary biographical information on Daruma (Bodhidharma) is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend. According to one tradition, Bodhidharma gained a reputation for, among other things, his practice of wall-gazing. Legend claims that he sat facing a wall in meditation for a period of nine years without moving, which caused his legs and arms to fall off from atrophy. This explains the weeble-wobble look of this mug. Traditionally, Daruma toys are weighted like weeble-wobbles and people fill in one pupil on his blank-eyed stare when they have a goal and the second pupil when they have fulfilled the goal. This mug version is marked "Moy's Japanese Steak House, Livonia, Michigan" on the back.
Production
Date
from ?-?
Release
Physical Characteristics
Material
Ceramic
Shape
Object
Colour
White
Imagery
Orientalia
Marking
"Moy's Japanese Steak House, Livonia, Michigan" on back and marked "JAPAN" on bottom.