1100s–1200s
Bronze
Overall: 17 cm (6 11/16 in.); Diameter of mouth with rim: 21.7 cm (8 9/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1985.112
A child, one of the main decorative elements for this basin, is possibly a young Buddhist pilgrim named Sudhana, who took a long spiritual journey to search for enlightenment.
This bronze basin may have been used for containing purified water. What makes this work charming is its intricate decoration done in silver inlay: the five-character, four-line poems interspersed among images of a child. The poems, which evoke the concept of nonattachment and nonduality, were written by Buddhist monks.
The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.
To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.
All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.