The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Conch Shell with a Figure of Hevajra

Conch Shell with a Figure of Hevajra

1100s
shell and bronze
Overall: 35 cm (13 3/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1977.176
Location: not on view

Description

A royal temple like Banteay Chhmar was built for performing rituals and to honor images of gods, Buddhas, and other sacred or enlightened beings for the sake of the kingdom’s protection and ongoing prosperity. Conch shells were blown at the start of rituals to make the sound corresponding to the syllable om.

The dancing figure of Hevajra, a Buddhist being of enlightenment with eight heads, sixteen arms, and four legs, has been worked into the bronze embellishment of the shell. Hevajra was elevated to a prominent position in Khmer Buddhism of the Angkorian period as the standard figure denoting the practice of rituals prescribed in a text called the Hevajra-tantra. The tripod stand with three serpents is probably not original to the shell.
  • ?–1977
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1977–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Annual Report for 1977." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 6 (June 1978): 177–215. Mentioned: p. 192 www.jstor.org
    Woodward, Hiram W., and Donna K. Strahan. The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore, MD: The Gallery, 1997. cat. no. 88, p. 92
    McGill, Forrest. Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region. San Francisco, CA: Asian Art Museum, 2022. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 148, no. 34
  • Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (November 11, 2022-February 5, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (March 31-July 10, 2023) https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/.
    Beyond Angkor: Cambodian Sculpture from Banteay Chhmar. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14, 2017-March 25, 2018).
    Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).
  • {{cite web|title=Conch Shell with a Figure of Hevajra|url=false|author=|year=1100s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.176