The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Kubjika–Navatman

1300s

Nepal

Gilt bronze with semiprecious stones
Overall: 29.8 x 27.2 cm (11 3/4 x 10 11/16 in.); with base: 32.6 cm (12 13/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1984.3
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The smaller figure, the goddess Kubjika, is the more powerful of the pair.

Description

The tantric Hindu Goddess Kubjika sits on the bent knee of her male consort, Navatman, a form of Shiva. Tantric practitioners use the recitation of mantras, which are powerful formulas or spells, in order to achieve the favor and power of the goddess. In this sculpture, the male figure personifies the Navatman Mantra by means of which devotees can access the goddess Kubjika. Kubjika’s name translates to “the crooked one,” and she is often shown as an elderly woman with a curved back. Here, however, she is depicted as a youthful contortionist.
  • The Pan-Asian Collection
    ?–1984
    (Robert H. Ellsworth [1929–2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1984–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1984.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (April 1985): 163–207. Mentioned: p. 207, no. 180; Reproduced: p. 176 www.jstor.org
    Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style, and Choices. Newark, London: University of Delaware Press; Associated University Presses, 1997. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 238, fig. N272
    Donaldson, Thomas E. Síva-Pārvatī and Allied Images : Their Iconography and Body Language. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, 2007. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 313, fig. 292
    Pangsrivongse, Pongsit. “A Rare Sadāmnāya Illuminated Manuscript and the Goddes Kubjikā " Artibus Asiae vol. LXXXV, no. 1 (2025), pp. 11–34. Figs. 9 and 10, pp. 22, 29, and 31
  • Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).
    Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985).
  • {{cite web|title=Kubjika–Navatman|url=false|author=|year=1300s|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1984.3