Water Ewer for Rituals (Kundika)

Description

Known as kundika in Sanskrit, this distinctively shaped vessel served to purify a sacred space and to invoke a deity. In Korean Buddhist art, it appears primarily as an attribute of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Gwaneum in Korean). By the 1100s, however, the kundika was used as aristocrats’ fancy water container for everyday use.

Provenance

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Water Ewer for Rituals (Kundika)

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1100s

Accession Number

1991.58

Medium

bronze

Dimensions

Overall: 39.5 cm (15 9/16 in.)

Classification

Metalwork

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of David S. Utterberg