The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 1, 2023

Water Ewer for Rituals (Kundika)

청동 정병 (靑銅淨甁)

1100s

Korea, Goryeo period

(918-1392)

Bronze

Outer diameter: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); Overall: 33 cm (13 in.)

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Robert Moore 1992.141

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This distinctively shaped vessel is called a <em>kundika </em>in Sanskrit, simply referring to a water bottle.

Description

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.

Provenance
?-1986
Robert W. Moore, Los Angeles, CA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1986-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
Exhibition history

Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; July 15 - September 14, 2003. " Object in Focus: Kundika "

Signs of Affection: Gifts Honoring the Museum's 75th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 1992-January 3, 1993).

Object in Focus: Kundika. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 14, 2003).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1992.141