I learned some interesting things when I bought this little carved bone shrine. It is Japanese, dates 1890 -1910ish, and is called a Zushi shrine. These are designed to travel with their owners. Inside the small alcove would be a seated, meditative mini statue of Buddha, carved similarly to the shrine. Somewhere along the way, Buddha got separated from my shrine. Otherwise, it's in great shape. Fortunately, the little mini carved bone "pocket" Buddhas are still around . I found one that is a good fit with the style of shrine and had the meditative pose I saw in similar Zushi shrines. This one had been turned into a pendant for tourists in the 1940s by bending metal strips around it, but not drilling a hole like some. I think it will be pretty easy to remove Buddha from his jewelry mounting and then the shrine will be as it once was.
