id:			154786
accession number:	1989.362
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.362
updated:		2023-03-14 12:01:38.631000

Purba, 1403–24. Sino-Tibetan, Yongle period (1403-1424). Metal alloys with gold and silver; overall: 27 x 6 cm (10 5/8 x 2 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1989.362

title:				Purba
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1403–24
creation date earliest:		1403
creation date latest:		1424
current location:		
creditline:			Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
copyright:			

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culture:	Sino-Tibetan, Yongle period (1403-1424)
technique:	metal alloys with gold and silver
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Tibetan Art
type:		Metalwork
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 27 x 6 cm (10 5/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection
	opening date:   1990-07-05T04:00:00
	<i>The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

	title:		The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art
	opening date:   2003-10-05T00:00:00
	<i>The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art</i>. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (October 5, 2003-January 11, 2004); Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (February 8-May 9, 2004).

	title:		Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China
	opening date:   2005-04-01T00:00:00
	<i>Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China</i>. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (April 1-July 10, 2005).

	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).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(William H. Wolff, Inc., New York, NY, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
	date: ?-1970
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Severance A. [1895-1985] and Greta Millikin [1903-1989], Cleveland, OH
	date: 1970-1985
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Greta Millikin [1903-1989], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1985-1989
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1989-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
A purba is a dagger-like stake with three blades that helps tantric practitioners overcome their aversions to substances that are typically considered abhorrent, like pus and blood. Pierced with the purba, the unsavory substances are ritually transformed into wondrous substances, such as nectar. <br><br>Crowning this purba are a half-vajra and three heads of the tantric enlightened being named Vajrakila, who presides over powers of transformation from wickedness to compassion. Each of his faces has been wrought of a different metal alloy in the imperial workshop of the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty. The luxurious quality of the endless knot motifs, the crocodile heads, and the snakes twisting down the center of each blade indicate Chinese imperial workmanship.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Huntington, John C., Dina Bangdel, and Robert A. F. Thurman. <em>The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art</em>. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003.
	page number: 	Reproduced: pp. 506-507, cat. no. 156
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1989.362/1989.362_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1989.362/1989.362_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1989.362/1989.362_full.tif