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 12th century, however, it came to serve as aristocrats’ fancy water container for everyday use.
Provenance
Robert W. Moore, Los Angeles, CA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?-1986); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1986-)
Accession Number
1992.141
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
Outer diameter: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); Overall: 33 cm (13 in.)
Classification
Metalwork
Credit Line
Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Robert Moore