Four Leaf Bodhi Dzi, Pitch-Black Ground, 47.6×12.6mm, Bold Cream-White Motif, Cream-Dominant Connector Face (Ac-070625-FLB3)

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

Of the three Four Leaf Bodhi dzi in this collection, this one has the highest contrast — the darkest ground and the brightest cream-white, and the connector face where most dzi show dark ground shows something different here: a field that is almost entirely cream.

That connector face — visible in Images 3 and 5 — is one of the most distinctive features of this bead. On most dzi, rotating 90° reveals a connector face where the dark ground dominates and cream-white bands cross through it. On this bead the proportion is inverted: the connector face is predominantly a bright cream-white field, with the dark grid-cross lines running through it as the dividers rather than the dominant element. The warm honey-brown warmth at the centre of those dark lines — the natural agate visible through the etching — adds a tertiary tone to a face that otherwise reads as a strong cream-white statement. This inversion of the usual dark-to-cream ratio gives the bead a different visual rhythm at every quarter turn.

The lateral faces carry the Four Leaf Bodhi composition at maximum graphic intensity. Two bodhi leaf forms per face, four across the full circumference: each leaf is a cream-white pointed-oval heart-form curve with a warm honey-brown interior field and a small dark triangular void at the centre — the characteristic teardrop-and-heart rendering of the bodhi leaf in dzi tradition. The pitch-black ground against which these leaves sit is confirmed from every white-background photograph as fully pitch-black — not dark brown, not grey-brown, but the absolute dark that the acid-etching process achieves at its most complete. Against that ground the bold cream-white motif lines are as high-contrast as any dzi in this collection, the leaf forms reading with the clarity and definition of marks made on a fresh surface rather than a five-hundred-year-old one.

The central divider between the two leaves on each face is a paired set of cream-white vertical stripe bands with a warm honey-brown centre line — the structural element that both separates the leaves and anchors the composition. The leaves open outward from this central divider toward the respective end tips, creating the same outward-opening quality visible across the Four Leaf Bodhi family. The end caps at both poles are warm honey-brown to sandy-tan — the natural agate showing through at the extreme tips where the pitch-black acid treatment reaches its limit. Both drill holes are small, round, and well-centred, with warm sandy-tan interiors visible in Images 6 and 7.

The surface throughout is semi-gloss to gloss — cleaner and more uniform than the matte-granular connector faces of Ac-061826-FLB2, which at 800–1,000 years shows pronounced weathering on its connector faces. This bead at 500–800 years retains more surface gloss and presents a more preserved surface overall, though the pitch-black ground and the age of the etching are consistent with its date range. No chips, cracks, medicine digs, or surface damage are present. No bloodspot inclusions are detected.

This is the second-oldest of three Four Leaf Bodhi dzi in this collection. At-101624-FLB is the youngest — antique, 200+ years, honey-brown agate, 35.7×12.1mm. Ac-061826-FLB2 is the oldest — 800–1,000 years, cool dark grey-brown ground, with matte-granular connector face weathering and smaller dimensions. Ac-070625-FLB3 sits between them in age and above them both in physical size — the largest of the three at 47.6×12.6mm, and the one with the most visually dramatic contrast between its pitch-black ground and its bold cream-white motif.

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The Four Leaf Bodhi Motif 四葉菩提天珠

The bodhi leaf (菩提葉, pútí yè) carries the most specific narrative of any plant symbol in the Buddhist tradition — it is the leaf of the Ficus religiosa, the tree under which Shakyamuni Buddha sat when he achieved full enlightenment (菩提, pútí: awakening, enlightenment). The moment of the Buddha's awakening beneath that tree is the pivot point of the entire Buddhist tradition, and the leaf of that tree has been understood ever since as a symbol of the possibility of awakening available to any being, under any circumstances. Four such leaves distributed around the full circumference of a dzi bead represents that awakening available in all four directions simultaneously — a field of clarity with no gap and no unawakened angle. Each pair of leaves on this bead opens outward from the centre toward a different end of the bead, so that however you hold it, two leaves are always in the act of opening — the motif perpetually becoming rather than having become, perpetually pointing outward rather than resting.

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Spec Block

Motif: Four Leaf Bodhi 四葉菩提天珠 (sì yè pútí tiānzhū); two bodhi leaf forms per lateral face, four total; each leaf: cream-white pointed-oval heart-form outer curve with warm honey-brown interior and dark triangular/heart-shaped central void; leaves open outward from central paired stripe divider with honey-brown centre line; connector faces: predominantly cream-white field with dark T-bar grid-cross dividers — inverted proportion from standard connector face
Length: 47.6mm
Diameter: 12.6mm
Form: Elongated fusiform; round cross-section; symmetrically tapered at both ends; small well-centred drill holes at both tips
Material: Pitch-black agate ground throughout body; warm honey-brown to sandy-tan end caps; warm sandy-tan drill hole interiors; bright bold cream-white acid-etched motif lines with warm honey-brown interior zones within leaf forms; semi-gloss to gloss surface
Age Estimate: 500–800 years
Condition: No chips, cracks, medicine digs, or rework; semi-gloss to gloss surface well preserved; cream-white motif lines bold and well-defined throughout
Bloodspots: None detected
Product ID: Ac-070625-FLB3
Collection: Ancient Dzi Beads | Bodhi Dzi

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You May Also Like

The other Four Leaf Bodhi dzi in this collection, and related ancient pieces:

Ac-061826-FLB2 — Ancient Four Leaf Bodhi Dzi — the oldest FLB in the collection; 800–1,000 years; cool dark grey-brown ground; matte-granular connector faces; 46.9×11.9mm

At-101624-FLB — Antique Four Leaf Bodhi Dzi — the youngest FLB; 200+ years; honey-brown agate; 35.7×12.1mm

Ac-080425-4E — Ancient Four Eye Dzi — ancient period; pitch-black compatible ground; square-framed eyes; 800–1,000 years; 49.5×12.6mm

Ac-030525-3E — Ancient Three Eye Dzi — ancient period; 500–700 years; 50.8×12.9mm; blue-toned third eye

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Further Reading

What Are Dzi Beads? Origins, Meaning & Collecting Guide
The Bodhi Tree and the Path to Enlightenment

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Pitch-black ground, cream-white leaves, five hundred years of clarity.

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

📷 We never retouch our photos. Every bead is photographed exactly as it is. What you see is what you receive.

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