The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

Akshobhya: the Buddha of the East

late 800s

Northeast India, Bihar, Kurkihar, Pala period

bronze with silver and copper inlay
Overall: 38.8 x 26.3 cm (15 1/4 x 10 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1970.10
Location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian

Description

Made during the Pala period (750-1134) when tantric imagery was first emerging in northeastern India, this sculpture is from a cache that yielded some of the most masterful works of the north Indian bronze tradition. From this region, Tantra spread to Southeast Asia. The double-headed thunderbolt, or vajra, placed on top of the pedestal in front of the figure indicates that this is a tantric image. His hand gestures identify him as one of the Five Cosmic Buddhas, each of whom is associated with a cardinal direction of space: north, south, east, west, and center. The Buddha Akshobhya is especially invoked to eradicate the harmful emotion of anger.
  • ?-1970
    (I. Kahane, Inc., Zürich, Switzerland, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1970-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sutton, D. “The New Oriental Galleries at Cleveland,” Apollo, Aug. 1970, Vol. 92, pp. 148-151. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 2, p. 148
    “Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1970.” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 25, 1971, pp. 91–120. Mentioned: p. 110 20111035
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71. Reproduced: p. 47, no. 171; Mentioned: p. 71, no. 171 25152361
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 295 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 138-139
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 220
  • Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).
    Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=Akshobhya: the Buddha of the East|url=false|author=|year=late 800s|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.10