Sutra Container (1100s): Art, History and Details

Sutra Container (1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This is a portable container once used to preserve a miniature Buddhist sacred text. Created by hammering the reverse, high-relief designs on both the front and back of the case depict a peaceful pond where young boys are holding giant lotus flowers in their hands, and a pair of mandarin ducks are swimming. Probably the playful boys represent newly reborn souls in the Pure Land.

Object facts

• Title: Sutra Container
• Date: 1100s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: gilt bronze with incised and high relief decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 10.2 x 6.5 x 1.5 cm (4 x 2 9/16 x 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1998.121

A detail from the museum

This is a portable container once used to preserve a miniature Buddhist sacred text, particularly useful for traveling Buddhist pilgrims.

Collection credit

Gift of Mitsuru Tajima

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cunningham, Michael R., "Sacred Metalwork of Korea", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 43 no. 05, May 2003
• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
• Choi, Eung-chon. “Metal Arts in the Late Goryeo Period [고려후기의 금속공예].” Kangjwa misulsa (2004): 125–156.

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.