Collection record · Objects & craft
Vajrapani
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated 700s. Recorded culture or place: India, Kashmir.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Vajrapani
- Date
- 700s
- Culture / origin
- India, Kashmir
- Materials and technique
- bronze with silver overlay and gum tempera
- Dimensions
- Overall: 22 cm (8 11/16 in.); Base: 12.8 cm (5 1/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1971.14
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
The name Vajrapani means “he who holds (pani) the thunderbolt (vajra)” in Sanskrit. Adopted by Buddhists as a protector not only in India and the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet, Vajrapani also was incorporated into art of China, Korea, and Japan. The attributes of the thunderbolt and the club were derived from images of Zeus and Hercules that travelers from the Mediterranean world brought to the region as early as the 320s BC.
This rare, early bronze image of Vajrapani visually conveys his power to overcome fear and obstacles to enlightenment, and for this reason he is invoked by Buddhist practitioners. He sits on a pedestal in the form of a rocky mountain populated with wild lions, and he has tamed poisonous snakes to use as ornaments.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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