Ewer (Fusatsugata Suibyō) (1200s): Art, History and Details

Ewer (Fusatsugata Suibyō) (1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Ewers of this particular shape developed in Japan for use in Esoteric Buddhist communities, and are called fusatsu-shaped water pitchers. Unlike the ewers commonly used in rituals celebrated before the Buddha, this type is used for the purifying of monks’ hands with water at the start of a Dharma assembly focused on the recitation of the monastic code of conduct, and repentance for transgressions.

Object facts

• Title: Ewer (Fusatsugata Suibyō)
• Date: 1200s
• Culture: Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 34.9 cm (13 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1970.78

Collection credit

James Parmelee Fund

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.