Water Ewer for Rituals (Kundika)
1100s
Maker Unknown
Korean Art
Water Ewer for Rituals (Kundika), 1100s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Bronze; outer diameter: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); overall: 33 cm (13 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Robert Moore 1992.141 Known as kundika in Sanskrit, this distinctively shaped vessel served to purify a sacred space and to invoke a deity. In Korean Buddhist art, it appears primarily as an attribute of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Gwaneum in Korean). By the 12th century, however, it came to serve as aristocrats’ fancy water container for everyday use. This distinctively shaped vessel is called a kundika in Sanskrit, simply referring to a water bottle.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Formatted Medium
- bronze
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Outer diameter: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); Overall: 33 cm (13 in.)
- Departments
- Korean Art
- Accession Number
- 1992.141
- Credit Line
- Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Robert Moore
- Exhibitions
- Signs of Affection: Gifts Honoring the Museum's 75th Anniversary, Object in Focus: Kundika, Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; July 15 - September 14, 2003. " Object in Focus: Kundika "
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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