Bell with Vajra Handle (900s): Art, History and Details
Bell with Vajra Handle at the Cleveland Museum of Art: 900s, bronze. Explore the work's context, creator attribution and collection history.
Bell with Vajra Handle (900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
The work and its context
The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:
The vajra and bell as a pair are an important combination of tantric implements. When used together, the vajra is held in the right hand and stands for tantric method; the bell refers to wisdom and is held in the left hand. When a tantric master holds the vajra and bell, he takes on the guise of an enlightened being who teaches and models tantric methods with wisdom and understanding.
Object facts
- Title: Bell with Vajra Handle
- Date: 900s
- Culture: Indonesia, Java, 10th century
- Type: Sculpture
- Technique: bronze
- Dimensions: Diameter: 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.); Overall: 15.1 cm (5 15/16 in.)
- Collection: Javanese Art
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Accession number: 1989.355
Collection credit
Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
View the collection record
See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.
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