The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Guardian King of the North (Bishamonten)

Guardian King of the North (Bishamonten)

1185–1333
Overall: 76.8 x 28.6 cm (30 1/4 x 11 1/4 in.); Base: 5.2 cm (2 1/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

In Buddhism, Bishamonten is one of four kings who protect the cardinal directions. He stands with a stupa symbolizing the Buddhist teachings and relics of the Buddha in the palm of his left hand, and a spear to foil the enemies of Buddhism in his right. He crushes a demon beneath his feet.
  • ?-1959
    (Mathias Komor, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1959-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ikeda, Shōtarō 池田庄太郎. Kobijutsu shūho: Ikeda Daisendō 古美術集芳: 池田大仙堂. Kyōto: Yamamoto Koshū, 1941. Reproduced: vol. 2, pls. 37-38
    Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 46, no. 10, 1959, pp. 210–231. Reproduced: p. 221; Mentioned; p. 229 25142366
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Divine: And the Terrible.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 1, 1961, pp. 5–9. Mentioned: pp. 5-9; Reproduced: p. 7, fig. 2 25142429
    Zenzo Shimizu 清水善三. "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Reproduced: fig. 12
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 16, 2003).
  • {{cite web|title=Guardian King of the North (Bishamonten)|url=false|author=|year=1185–1333|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1959.135