The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon

early 1300s, pedestal 1600s–1700s

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185–1333)
Wood with traces of color and gold; pedestal: wood with lacquer, color, and gold
Overall: 110.6 cm (43 9/16 in.); Base: 28 cm (11 in.); Figure: 82.6 cm (32 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1981.1
Location: Not on view

Description

Batō Kannon, or Hayagriva Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, is the “horse-headed” form of the bodhisattva of compassion, who presides over the realm of animals in the Buddhist Six Realms of Transmigration (rebirth). A horse’s head appears in the hair of this sculpture to identify it. Bodhisattvas are beings who, though enlightened, choose to remain within the worlds of existence to help others. The six realms are heaven, hell, human, animal, hungry ghost, and ashura, or fierce supernatural entities.
  • Fudarakusanji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
    ?–1981
    (Minoru Hosomi, Ōsaka, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1981–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1981.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 69, no. 2 (February 1982): 39–82. Mentioned: no. 134, pp. 39, 41, and 83; Reproduced: no. 134; back cover www.jstor.org
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 45
  • Animals in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon|url=false|author=|year=early 1300s, pedestal 1600s–1700s|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.1