The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Vajravarahi

1300s

Tibet

gilt bronze with turquoise inlay
Overall: 36 cm (14 3/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1982.50
Location: Not on view

Description

Vajravarahi is the tantric Buddhist counterpart to the Hindu mother goddess Varahi, identifiable by the boar head emerging above her right ear. She is a female enlightened being who emanated from the Buddhist Goddess of Perfect Wisdom. Enlightened beings transcend gender distinctions, and they can emanate as either male or female. The lithe figure dances while carrying a skull cup in her left hand. Raised up in her right hand is a ritual flaying knife with a handle in the shape of a halfvajra, used for skinning the metaphorical beast of uncontrolled passions. The pegs cast into her lower body were for holding a bone skirt.
  • Pan Asia Collection
    ?–1982
    (Robert H. Ellsworth [1929–2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (January 1983): 3–55. Reproduced: p. 31; Mentioned: p. 54, no. 105 www.jstor.org
    Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style, and Choices. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 1997. Reproduced: p. 206, fig. C180
    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. 221
    Cameron, Ainsley M., and Forrest McGill. "Introduction." In Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region. Forrest McGill, ed., 10–17. San Francisco, CA: Asian Art Museum, 2022. Reproduced: p. 17; Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 106, no. 10
  • 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/.
    Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Vajravarahi|url=false|author=|year=1300s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.50