Benefactor Variant Motif (Arms Down), 27.4×12.2mm, Dark Brown Agate (V-071426-BNF)

🪨 Genuine agate. Unretouched photos. What you see is what ships.

The figure on this bead does not have its arms raised — they descend from the central eye, curving downward on each side, a posture that distinguishes this piece from the standard benefactor form and gives the motif a different quality of presence on the face.

This is a vintage Taiwan dzi from the 1980s, carrying the Benefactor motif in a downward-arm variant not commonly seen. The motif is organised around a single eye: on face A, the eye sits in the upper-centre, its cream oval ring and dark pupil clearly defined, with the characteristic descending arm-lines curving outward and down from the central body below it. On face B, the composition shifts — the cream zones form a more structural, grid-like reading as the bead turns, the dark ground zones appearing as rectangular blocks within the broader pale field. The full motif only becomes legible as a figure when the bead is rotated slowly and the eye, the body, and the descending arms are taken together across the turn.

The ground throughout is a warm dark brown — present consistently across all three body-shot angles in the flat-lit white-background photographs. The cream motif zones carry a peachy-warm tone rather than a pure bright white, giving the piece a palette that is entirely warm across every colour zone: the dark ground, the cream elements, and the end caps at both drill tips all share the same warm-brown character, the cream zones reading as the lighter register of a single warm palette rather than as a contrast pair.

At 27.4×12.2mm this is a compact barrel, sitting at the smaller end of the vintage Taiwan dzi range. The surface carries age-consistent texture visible in the macro photographs. Fine surface marks present. No chips or cracks observed from available photos.

A macro photograph documents small reddish-brown cinnabar inclusions present at the cream zone boundaries — consistent in character with bloodspot inclusions seen across other pieces in the collection, though not the dominant feature of this piece.

The Benefactor Motif

The Benefactor dzi — also known as the Patron or Sponsor dzi — depicts a figure understood in the Tibetan tradition as a protective presence and provider of support: the ideal patron who sustains practitioners, communities, and the conditions necessary for the Dharma to flourish. The figure is typically rendered as a stylised human form with a central eye and characteristic arm positions. The standard benefactor form shows the arms raised — the gesture of offering and active blessing. This piece carries a variant in which the arms descend — a posture that in Tibetan iconographic tradition can read as the gesture of bestowing, of directing energy or benefit downward toward those below. Both postures operate within the same symbolic field of protective patronage and sustained support. The Benefactor dzi is said to draw the energy of helpful allies, auspicious connections, and steady material and spiritual backing toward the wearer.

Spec Block

Motif: Benefactor Variant (arms-down posture)
Length: 27.4mm
Diameter: 12.2mm
Form: Barrel
Material: Agate (warm peachy-brown end cap coloration consistent with agate-internal colour at drill zones; owner confirmation recommended)
Age Estimate: Vintage — 1980s Taiwan production
Condition: Good — age-consistent surface texture; fine surface marks; no chips or cracks observed from available photos
Bloodspots: Tier 2 — small reddish-brown cinnabar inclusions present at cream zone boundaries, documented in macro photographs; present but not the defining feature of this piece
Product ID: V-071426-BNF
Collection: New & Vintage Dzi | Taiwan Dzi | Bloodspot Dzi

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For other vintage Taiwan dzi with bloodspots, see:

• V-061026-6ETTBS — Six Eye Tiger Tooth with Extreme Bloodspots, 49.1×12.3mm
• V-092224-TrVBS — Vintage Treasure Vase with Bloodspots, 37.4×13.9mm

Further reading:

• Dzi Motifs and Their Interpretations
• Tibetan Dzi Beads: Luck, Fortune & Meaning

All photos are unretouched. Colour and surface detail are as photographed.

🪨 Genuine agate. Unretouched photos. What you see is what ships.

📷 7 unretouched product photos included.

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