id:			151002
accession number:	1982.50
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.50
updated:		2022-04-20 09:01:44.992000

Vajravarahi, 1300s. Tibet. Gilt bronze with turquoise inlay; overall: 36 cm (14 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1982.50

title:				Vajravarahi
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1300s
creation date earliest:		1300
creation date latest:		1399
current location:		237 Himalayan
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Tibet
technique:	gilt bronze with turquoise inlay
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Tibetan Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 36 cm (14 3/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Year in Review for 1982
	opening date:   1983-01-05T05:00:00
	<i>The Year in Review for 1982</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).

	title:		Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art
	opening date:   2013-05-05T00:00:00
	<i>Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).

	title:		Dance in the Arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan World
	opening date:   2022-11-11T05:00:00
	<i>Dance in the Arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan World</i>. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (November 11, 2022-February 5, 2023); Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (March 31-July 10, 2023).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* The Cleveland Museum of Art (05/05/2013 - 09/15/2013); "Focus:Tantra in Buddhist Art"

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PROVENANCE

	Pan Asia Collection
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Robert H. Ellsworth [1929-2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1982
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1982-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
Vajravarahi is the tantric Buddhist counterpart to the Hindu mother goddess Varahi, identifiable by the boar head emerging above her right ear. She is a female enlightened being who emanated from the Buddhist Goddess of Perfect Wisdom. Enlightened beings transcend gender distinctions, and they can emanate as either male or female. The lithe figure dances while carrying a skull cup in her left hand. Raised up in her right hand is a ritual flaying knife with a handle in the shape of a halfvajra, used for skinning the metaphorical beast of uncontrolled passions. The pegs cast into her lower body were for holding a bone skirt.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Reedy, Chandra L. <em>Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style, and Choices</em>. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 1997.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 206, fig C180
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.50/1982.50_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.50/1982.50_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.50/1982.50_full.tif