id:			125562
accession number:	1947.494
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1947.494
updated:		2022-01-13 10:01:29.019000

Vajrasattva, 1100s–1200s. Cambodia, style of Angkor Thom, 12th-13th century. Bronze; overall: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1947.494

title:				Vajrasattva
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1100s–1200s
creation date earliest:		1100
creation date latest:		1299
current location:		
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Cambodia, style of Angkor Thom, 12th-13th century
technique:	bronze
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Cambodian Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Beyond Angkor: Cambodian Sculpture from Banteay Chhmar
	opening date:   2017-10-14T04:00:00
	<i>Beyond Angkor: Cambodian Sculpture from Banteay Chhmar</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2017-March 25, 2018).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	His Excellency the Okna Cakrei Pon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?–1947
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1947–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
From the back of the crown hang cords, which drape over the shoulders. The same type of cords hang from the back of the belt, coiling over the legs symmetrically on either side.

digital description: 


wall description: 
Vajrasattva is a Buddhist being of enlightenment who holds the <em>vajra</em>, or thunderbolt, in his right hand and a bell in his left. The vajra and bell are the basic implements used in tantric rituals that were popular under Jayavarman VII and practiced at Banteay Chhmar. <br><br>Tantra is a form of Buddhism that makes use of rituals and mantras to aid practitioners in reaching their goals quickly, as though with the speed of lightning. Tantric texts and rituals were used frequently in Cambodia, from the 900s onward, but they were especially prominent under Jayavarman VII. This form of Buddhism appears to have been supplanted by other forms after the 1400s. <br><br>Small bronze images of Vajrasattva may have been brought out from a temple treasury during the performance of Buddhist rituals that followed the instructions in a Sanskrit text, brought to Cambodia from India, called the <em>Hevajra-tantra</em>. In that text Vajrasattva manifests at key moments in the rituals.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	“Front Matter.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 35, no. 8 (October 1948).
	page number: 	Reproduced: cover
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141495

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.494/1947.494_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.494/1947.494_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.494/1947.494_full.tif