The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 31, 2023

Plaque with the Image of Amitabha Triad

금동판제 아미타삼존상 (金銅板製阿彌陀三尊像)

676–935

Korea, Unified Silla period

(676-935)

Embossed copper plate covered with gold leaf

Overall: 11.5 x 11 cm (4 1/2 x 4 5/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1987.59

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Amitabha is believed to dwell in the Western Paradise where repentant souls are reborn in a lotus pond. Here, this savior deity is sitting in a lotus pedestal.

Description

This plate is embossed with an image of the Amitabha Buddha flanked by two attendants. The plate, created by hammering softly from the back of the metal sheet, highlights the advanced metalworking techniques of the Unified Silla period. Similar plates were used to decorate boxes that contained sacred relics.

Provenance
August 19, 1987
Cleveland Museum of Art
John Eskenazi (sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, August 19, 1987)
Citations
Nelson, Sarah. Gyeongju: The Capital of Golden Silla. Routledge, 2019.
Lee, So-young, and Denise Patry Leidy. Silla: Korea's Golden Kingdom. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013.
Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.59