The Material proxy is a sphere on which the material’s texture, color, transparency, reflectivity, and specularity display as you change them. Use this proxy when composing or modifying the material for your model.
When a texture is attached to the material and displays on the sphere, drag in the Material proxy area to rotate the sphere and see the texture from all sides.
Material settings A. Material proxy B. Preview Texture option
Preview Texture option
When the Preview Texture option is active, the texture attached to the material’s Diffuse property displays on the sphere.
Disable the Preview Texture option when you want to preview the material without its Diffuse texture. Disabling this option does not detach the textures attached to the material.