The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Bodhisattva Vajraraksha

c. 900s

Western Tibet, c. 10th Century

Silver

Overall: 10.8 x 7 cm (4 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.)

Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1989.363

Location

237 Himalayan

Description

Once part of a set of sculptures depicting the enlightened beings who occupy a perfect world called the Diamond Realm (Vajradhatu), this figure holds the collar of his jacket in a gesture specific to him. An important practice in Tibetan Buddhism is the visualization of the Diamond Realm as described in texts and aided by artistic representations called mandalas. Bodhisattva Vajraraksha sits in the northern quadrant as a subsidiary figure to the Buddha Amoghasiddhi, who is green in color and quells fear.

Provenance
?–1971
(William H. Wolff, Inc., New York, NY, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
1971–1989
Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1989–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. cat. no. 187, p. 91
Exhibition history

The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kashmir and Its Legacies. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL (organizer) (January 13-April 19, 2015); Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY (May 22-October 19, 2015).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.363