Can anyone tell me what this is?

[lopo]

Hello, I am new to this forum, and would like to know if anyone can help me find out what this is, I was given this approx 8 yrs ago by a elderly gentleman, it had been his wifes great aunts, so must have some age too it.
it is approx 7 1/2 inches tall and is quite heavy.It does however have some very slight damage to a little finger.
I would love as much information as possible, should it be positioned in a certain area in my home. I would like to know if it as any value, but this is not my reason for asking, I do really like the piece, and would mainly like to know its provenance.
Thankyou for takeing the time to have a look.

 

[lopo]

I was hoping that someone might have been able to help me in my quest at finding out what my statue was, unfortunatly no one as been able to help me out. I would like to point out that there are no markings what so ever on this, and the base is open. But if someone as seen anything like this please could they let me know, I don't even know if it is Japanese, or how old could it be?

 

[kumo]

Looks like a Buddha statue (仏像) with a lotus flower in his chest... I think you should bring it to a antique shop or something and have them check it for you. It's pretty hard to tell anything with just a few pictures.

 

[godppgo]

Hmm... I don't think it's a Buddha statue.
It looks to me like am important person from the higher rank family back in
old time Japan. The flower-like symbol might be the family embellishment.

 

[Mike Cash]

I agree that it doesn't look like a statue of Buddha; the hands are all wrong, for one thing. The headgear looks sort of like that sometimes worn by Shinto priests.

 

[Emoni]

My best guess is that it isn't a religous piece, but is a figurine created of an important government figure. It looks like more of a scholar than a priest of any sort. Just a guess though. I wouldn't have a clue who it could be, but I would check in that direction.