Collection record · Objects & craft
Bronze Ritual Bell
The collection record classifies this work as metalwork. It is dated 1226. Recorded culture or place: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392).
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Bronze Ritual Bell
- Date
- 1226
- Culture / origin
- Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
- Materials and technique
- cast bronze with incised inscription
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.); Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1992.118
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
This miniature bell was once used as part of Buddhist indoor rituals. Likely suspended in a Buddhist temple, it features a cast dragon and a vertical tube to amplify the sound on top, and is decorated with Buddhist figures seated on lotuses. The echoing sound of the bell was thought to help Buddhist believers understand the significance of transience and impermanence; the sound instantly fades away as soon as one hears it. This sensory experience creates a striking conceptual parallel with Buddhist teachings, including the idea that all things and beings exist merely in our perception or imagination. An inscription indicates it was cast in the year of the dragon and took three years to make.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance 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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