Portable icon of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Earth-touching gesture (late 1100s–early 1200s): Art, History and Details

Portable icon of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Earth-touching gesture (late 1100s–early 1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The Buddha sits surrounded by a circle of flaming jewels and full-blown lotus petals. Two rearing serpents emblematic of the glory of the Khmer Empire emerge from either side of his lotus pedestal. The Buddha’s right hand points down in the earth-touching gesture, and his left hand holds a round object, probably a special rice offering that indicates the Buddha’s power to ensure ongoing prosperity of the land. The branches of the pipal tree under which the Buddha reached enlightenment top the composition. Beneath his lotus pedestal, the earth goddess wrings the waters from her hair that wash away the army of Mara, the grimacing demons holding clubs and shields who flee to either side.

Object facts

• Title: Portable icon of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Earth-touching gesture
• Date: late 1100s–early 1200s
• Culture: Cambodia, reign of Jayavarman 7th
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 42 x 18.5 x 3 cm (16 9/16 x 7 5/16 x 1 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Cambodian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1964.93

A detail from the museum

Bronze images such as this were used to transfer a sacred presence from one temple to another.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

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.