{
"data": {
"id": 149139,
"accession_number": "1977.64.a",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Miniature Stone Reliquary or Toilette Casket, 1\u2013100 CE. Pakistan, Gandhara, probably Sirkap, early Kushan period. Gray schist; diameter: 4 cm (1 9/16 in.); overall: 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Elizabeth B. Blossom, 1977.64.a",
"current_location": "242A Ancient India",
"title": "Miniature Stone Reliquary or Toilette Casket",
"creation_date": "1\u2013100 CE",
"creation_date_earliest": 1,
"creation_date_latest": 100,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Pakistan, Gandhara, probably Sirkap, early Kushan period"
],
"technique": "gray schist",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art - Kushan, Gandhara",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Diameter: 4 cm (1 9/16 in.); Overall: 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"diameter": {
"width": 0.04
},
"overall": {
"height": 0.042
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 309889,
"title": "Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India",
"description": "Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 13, 1985-January 5, 1986).",
"opening_date": "1985-11-13T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(Ulrich von Schroeder [b. 1943], Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131977",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1977\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The knob of the lid is gilded, as is the interior of the casket.",
"description": "Tiny reliquaries holding the cremated remains of the Buddha or a high-ranking holy person empowered monuments and made them sacred. A Buddhist monument, such as the solid hemispherical mounds called stupas, would not be worshipped until it was consecrated with the relic secreted inside. Bits of ash were combined with tiny gems inside a crystal or glass reliquary, which was then placed inside a stone or metal container, like the lidded versions seen here. These containers look like cosmetic vessels for aromatic pastes used for perfume in ancient India. Buddhist texts state that the enlightened Buddha emitted a fragrance like sandalwood paste; the form of the reliquary as a perfume bottle indicates the presence of the Buddha by the visual reference to his pleasant scent. Once enclosed in the stupa the reliquaries would not be seen, but monks were tasked with applying sandalwood paste to the exterior of stupas as part of their regular maintenance to convey to visitors the ongoing presence of the Buddha radiating from the relic in the center.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60750142"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1977.64.a-miniature-stone-reli"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. \u201cThe Year in Review for 1977.\u201d The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 65, no. 1, 1978, pp. 2\u201343.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: no. 147, p. 43; Reproduced: no. 147, p. 30",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159560"
},
{
"citation": "Czuma, Stanislaw J., and Rekha Morris. Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 84, p. 170",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.64.a",
"images": {
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"creditline": "Bequest of Elizabeth B. Blossom",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 149139,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1977-10-20T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1\u2013100 CE",
"collapse_artists": false,
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"cover_accession_number": "1977.64",
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-03-27 00:06:50.080000"
}
}