The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 30, 2022

Basin with Inscribed Figures and Calligraphy

청동 은입사 호 (靑銅銀入絲兩耳壺)

1100s-1200s

Korea, Goryeo period

(918-1392)

Bronze

Overall: 17 cm (6 11/16 in.); Diameter of mouth with rim: 21.7 cm (8 9/16 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1985.112

Location

236 Korean

Fun Fact

A child, one of the main decorative elements for this basin, is possibly a young Buddhist pilgrim named Sudhana, who took a long spiritual journey to search for enlightenment.

Description

This bronze basin may have been used for containing purified water. What makes this work charming is its intricate decoration done in silver inlay: the five-character, four-line poems interspersed among images of a child. The poems, which evoke the concept of nonattachment and nonduality, were written by Buddhist monks.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Each of the three roundels contain five-character, four-line poems with Buddhist messages.

Provenance
?–1985
(London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1985–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1985." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 73, no. 2 (1986): 26-71. Reproduced: p. 42, no. 194; Mentioned: p. 70, no. 194 www.jstor.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. 232-233
Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
Choi, Eung-chon. “Craftsmen in Metal Arts in the Goryeo Dynasty [고려시대 金屬工藝의 匠人].” Misulsahak yeongu (2004): 171-192. www.dbpia.co.kr
Lee, Young-hee. "The Study on the Craft technique of Koryo Dynasty-Centering on Interrelation [고려시대 공예기법 연구 상호관련성을 중심으로]." Misul sahakbo 22 (2004): 133-170. www.dbpia.co.kr
Korean Art from the United States [미국, 한국미술을 만나다 ]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 166-167, no. 71
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. 250
Cho, Chiyun and Yi Seunghye. Exquisite and Precious: The Splendor of Korean Art [세밀가귀]​. Seoul: Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: p. 66, no. 20, Mentioned: p. 362
Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 16–October 28, 2003).

The Year in Review for 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 20, 1986).

Scholar's Studio. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 26-December 31, 1989).

Korean Art from the United States. National Museum of Korea, Seoul, Korea (Republic of) (organizer) (June 4-August 5, 2012).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.112